Missing The Boat (Or, in this case,The Canoe!)

    Tourism is important to every community and
northeastern Pennsylvania is no exception.
    Tourists spend money in hotels, restaurants,
and, usually, the attractions that brought them into
town.
    Most communities promote their fairs, concerts,
museums, and such to try to lure visitors.
    But they may be over looking some real
potential!
    That thought came to mind while walking
through Pittston the other day.
    Now with the possible exception of its annual
Tomato Festival I don't think most people would
consider Pittston to be a Tourist destination.
    But I met some locals talking with a young
man who stopped in the city while on a canoe
trip on the Susquehanna from New York State
to the Chesapeake  Bay.
    His interest really seemed to peak when we
mentioned the fact that he had just sailed past
the Butler Mine Tunnel which became a
Federal Superfund site after illegally dumped
chemicals were found to be flowing out of
the underground drainage system and into
the river!
    The Tunnel made headlines for years,
threatening the environment and towns
downstream that take their drinking
water from the Susquehanna.
   That conversation quickly lead to some
history on the Knox Mine disaster just a
couple miles away which virtually ended
deep coal mining throughout the Wyoming
Valley!
   Our visitor would soon be sailing over
the very spot where railroad cars were
dumped into the river to try to plug the
hole that let the water into the mines.
    Downstream after that...the Luzerne
County Courthouse. That produced a
few horror stories too!
    Disaster movies and scary flicks are
big business these days.
    And if here's one thing we've had
plenty of around these parts....it's
disasters!
    Maybe instead of trying to forget
them we should be "selling" them!
    If our canoeist was any indication
our "disasters" would be a very big
draw!
    Hope you get my "drift" and that all
your NEWS is good!