With a bear hat to keep him warm, Dylan Berry, 5, bounced with excitement on the Penn Avenue sidewalk.
Outfitted in his "extra cozy" hat and new Batman gloves, Dylan had only one thing on his mind: Rudolph.
"I like his red nose because I've never seen a reindeer that had a nose that glowed," he explained, matter-of-factly.
Dylan was accompanied by his grandparents, Glenn and Dianne Havenstrite, in Scranton on Wednesday evening for a free showing of the holiday classic film at The Scranton Times Building, one of the offerings in conjunction with the lighting of the Times Tower.
The festivities marked the 52nd anniversary of the lighting of the radio tower, which to many in the area, symbolizes the advent of the holiday season. In addition to illuminating multi- colored strands of lights, the event included music, food, fireworks and a larger-than-life version of Santa's "nice" list.
The radio tower on Penn Avenue began to glow at about 6:30 p.m. after Cecelia Lynett Haggerty pulled a candy cane-striped switch on a street-level stage below. As the crowd of faces craned to see the glimmer of the lights and the fireworks that followed, Bobby Lynett, a publisher of The Times-Tribune and CEO of Times-Shamrock Communications, looked down.
"I think the best part is seeing the faces of the kids who see the tower," he said, adding that he also enjoyed the reaction when children found their names on Santa's list.
It was the third year for the community event, which now requires the streets to be blocked. Mr. Lynett hopes to see it eventually incorporate downtown businesses and benefit the whole city.
"We thought we shouldn't keep this to ourselves," he said of the original idea for the gathering. "We never expected to get the crowd we have."
It was the first time Mike and Teri Templar and their granddaughter, Zoey Templar, 2, had been a part of the holiday crowd, but Mrs. Templar said it won't be the last.
"It's amazing the things you do for your grandchildren," she laughed, referencing the trip from Tunkhannock. "We decided to make it our new tradition."
Contact the writer: rbrown@timesshamrock.com, @rbrownTT on Twitter