There was no mention of unfunded debt or the commuter tax.
For a few hours Friday, the financial issues tormenting Scranton were set aside as nearly 600 people joined Mayor Chris Doherty and several former city chief executives in celebrating what makes the city strong at the 50th annual Mayors' Prayer Breakfast.
With the theme, "Celebrating a Community Inspired by Hope," the interfaith event at the Radisson at Lackawanna Station hotel highlighted the city's religious, cultural and ethnic diversity.
Mr. Doherty said he recently attended the opening of the second Hindu temple in the city, and children of many religions today walk the halls of city schools.
"That is all good. That is a sign of strength, of the growth of our community. ... Our city is changing dramatically, changing for all the right reasons, heading in the right direction," he said.
If people look at all of the vital signs, the city is strong, Mr. Doherty said. Its educational facilities are growing, and another downtown building will soon be converted to apartments, the eighth in three years.
"Mayors are just representatives of the people who live in our community. I stand here as a representative of the city," he told the crowd, a mix of government, business and civic leaders and college and high school students.
"But you are the city. You are the county. You are Northeast Pennsylvania, and you are strong."
The breakfast included readings from the Old Testament and New Testament. The Scranton High School Rhythm Knights chorus performed inspirational and patriotic songs.
Because the breakfast coincided with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, or Festival of Sacrifice, Riaz Hussain, Ph.D., was unable to attend to read a passage from the Quran, as he has done each year for the last decade. But Dr. Hussain, imam of the mosque at the University of Scranton, prepared a message that was read at the event.
"When the Prophet Mohammed was oppressed and rejected by his fellow citizens, he received the word of God that the future would be better than the present," Dr. Hussain said. "On this (Eid al-Adha) day, I pray for the citizens of Scranton for a future that is brighter and more prosperous."
Guests viewed a special video commemorating the 50th anniversary of the breakfast and paying tribute to the community leaders who established it in 1963: Mayor William T. Schmidt, Claude Martin, Harry Gordon and attorneys Emmanuel Laster and John Lenahan. Mr. Lenahan's son, attorney Timothy Lenahan, narrated the video.
Rosemary Broderick, chairwoman of the event's planning committee, announced the Mayors' Prayer Breakfast has established a government leadership scholarship fund.
Administered by the Scranton Area Foundation, the fund will support leadership training for young people interested in pursuing careers in public service, she said.
"This fund will enable us to continue the legacy that was started 50 years ago by the founders of this event," Mrs. Broderick said.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com