Sterling 'Silver?'

   I remember hearing my daughters and
grand daughters singing a song at their
Brownie and Girl Scout meetings.
   It went something like this...."Make new
friends but keep the old, one is silver
and the other is gold."
   I met a lot of gold and silver friends at the
Hotel Sterling in Wilkes-Barre over my many
years as a news reporter.
   It was a 'Hub' of activity in the city.
   Nearly every Service club met there
each week. WILK Radio, where I was
New Director, actually had the microphone
in the main meeting room wired into the
station so we could record the various
speakers who gave speeches each week.
   WBRE Radio had studios inside the
Sterling and, for a time, the Citizen's
Voice Newspaper was published out of
offices just above the huge and ornate
lobby.
   My family and I were 'regulars' for a
few years at the wonderful Sunday
Smorgasbord offered in the Dining Room
during my days at another local station.
   The guy I worked for at the time didn't
pay very much so he traded some
commercials for a few dinners.
   That, by the way, was AFTER the
Agnes Flood in 1972.
    Still, the Sterling was beginning to
head downhill.
    One reason was competition.
    Federal funds helped one nearby
hotel rebuild and expand after the Agnes
Flood. Additional money helped to
build a bread new hotel just a block
away. Somehow the Sterling got lost
in the mix!
    Wilkes build its own dormitories so
students who used to stay at the hotel
now had newer, modern accommodations
at their disposal.
    Meanwhile, the Sterling continued to
age.
     Some people want to see it restored
to its days of 'glory.'
     Some people insist it be demolished.
     Some people just want to assign blame.
     I've got mixed emotions on the issue.
     But, as it now stands, (which some
say is just barley), the Sterling
seems to be a Memorial to 'better days.'
     Like the old Hotel Casey in  Scranton
restoration may now be an impossible
dream. The Casey site is now a parking
garage. When they took the old hotel
down they gave Mayor Jimmy Connors
a 'time capsule' from the building.
     It turned out to be a fake! The real one
had been set aside for 'safe keeping.'
     But nobody told the mayor...at least
not for awhile!
     I wonder if there's a time capsule in
the Sterling?
     It's memories may be 'golden' but
this "Sterling's silver" is now very, very
tarnished!
     Hope you don't have any immediate
plans for reservations.....and that all
your NEWS is good!