SCRANTON, Pa. — Wednesday brought a Thanksgiving Eve like no other.
On one hand, the traditional lighting of the Times-Tribune radio tower in downtown Scranton did go as planned. However, the rest of this usually busy night was anything but busy.
The lighting of the tower usually draws in thousands of people to the Electric City. Many of them catch up with friends at the bars after that. This year, downtown Scranton looked a lot different on Thanksgiving Eve.
With the flip of a switch, Santa Claus illuminated the tower bringing the north pole spirit to Scranton. However, the spirit downtown was a different story.
The night before Thanksgiving is usually one of the busiest nights of the year for bars and restaurants.
The governor's order cutting off alcohol sales at 5 p.m. wiped this night of business right off the calendar.
"Definitely feels weird. I normally go out on Thanksgiving Eve, familiar with how busy the nightlife normally is. Definitely feels very different this year," Amanda Vargas said.
Sidewalks here would normally be bustling. Cash registers inside businesses would normally be ringing. Thanksgiving Eve is the kickoff to the holiday season, not only in spirit but economically as well. That's all gone in 2020 because of the pandemic.
"It's actually really dead, unfortunately. I would say that usually around this time, especially because of the holidays, it's usually bumping. There's people in and out of the bars having a good time. I don't blame them for shutting down because it could really, really get bad," Jody Zlotucha of Scranton said.
The state's alcohol ban for bars and restaurants is only in effect on Wednesday. They can resume sales on Thursday.