PHOTOS
Randy Shemanski
When the idea for the Scranton Pocono 500 Fanfest first came about, Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty knew immediately the event could be a big success. The popularity of NASCAR and Pocono Raceway coupled with Pocono CEO Dr. Joseph Mattioli's interest in holding an event in Scranton led to the creation of the event.
Mayor Doherty recently sat down to discuss the Fanfest, his interest in NASCAR and what it would be like to zip around the track at 200 mph.
Are you a NASCAR fan?
"Follow it from afar. I kind of know some drivers. I've never been to a NASCAR race. I understand how popular it is, though. I have friends who are really into the sport. And I know every year we have the races up at Long Pond it becomes the third-largest city in the state. And I know it's a good thing for our city."
How did the idea for the Fanfest come about?
"Really Joe Mattioli (son of Pocono CEO Dr. Joseph Mattioli). He came to us. I was at a Children's Advocacy Center fundraiser at Molly Brannigans and he was there. I met him; he is one of the big supporters of the Children's Advocacy Center. He said, "I want to do something in Scranton, and I want to do something that will benefit the Center and also create an event in the city." Years ago, we used to do this - 20 or 25 years ago, that's what (Mattioli) said. He said he wanted to bring it back and we started the conversation and got MaryAnn LaPorta involved.
In the city we've had a lot of events, so we kind of know the structure of it. So I called WNEP and then I got Timmy Holmes and Sara (Hailstone) involved because they did The Office Convention, and we started from there. From our conversations - we met several times - we think it's going to be a good thing. Not only having the cars, but we're going to have (Asia featuring John Payne) perform, so it's going to be a nice little event downtown.
Was it a fanfest from the beginning, or is that what it developed into?
I think it was a fanfest right from the start. The idea was, let's bring some show cars down. He said, "Trust me. You put these cars down here, people will show up." So I said all right. My fear was, I didn't want to misjudge it in terms of its size and not be prepared for the crowd. I just read things and observe that NASCAR is extremely popular and I didn't want to be underprepared. That was my biggest fear, to make sure we're able to handle such an event. The more we met, we realized we had good things in place.
Street carnivals do well in Scranton - La Festa Italiana, First Night, for example. That has to carry over with the race fans, right?
It should. But my experience has been, any time you do something new, it takes a little bit of time. And that's not people in Northeastern Pennsylvania; I think in general they have to get used to it. It's the summer, although it's early summer. Kids are still in school, which is a good thing. If you do something in the middle of the summer, people are going to be gone. Especially people around here seem to go to the shore or wherever.
I think the NASCAR is what's going to drive it. NASCAR fans are really loyal and they're going to come to it. If we just had a downtown festival, I think it would do OK. It probably wouldn't be anything special. NASCAR's going to really drive the crowd.
Jimmy Spencer is going to receive a key to the city? Do you know him at all?
I just really know from what I hear on the news. I've never met him before. It's exciting to have someone who has done really well in NASCAR and now has his own show. I'm going to be on the SPEED Channel with him, so it's a great honor. That's the other reason we brought the entertainment. We want to make sure while the people are here ... they're coming because of NASCAR; we want to make sure they have a good time. So we want to entertain them. That's where we came up the idea, 'Man, we should have a good band,' and things like that. People will come away and say, "We had a good time in Scranton." Like The Office Convention.
With the entertainment, one thing people need to realize is it's not just for NASCAR fans, right?
Absolutely. It's important that we get the message out ... that it isn't just come out and see cars. Oh, by the way, there's this great band, and we'll have other bands playing throughout the day. It's alcohol-free, which is good, which is what we want. But it also benefits the restaurants and bars - hey, if you want to go and get a drink, go inside. That's why I do these things. You constantly want to create energy in your hometown and these events allow you to do that. It helps out the shops and stores. That's why NASCAR is such a great partner to have because they really are the No. 1 sport.
Do you think this will become a yearly event?
Oh, my hope is definitely. You look at these things and you talk about La Festa and the St. Patrick's Parade, First Night ... for instance, the light show at Nay Aug is now an event. People look forward to that. I want people to look forward to this.
As long as there are races in the Poconos, we should have an event with them. The Mattiolis are committed to Northeastern Pennsylvania - we're lucky because this only happens because they want it to happen. We can't do this on our own. We need their partnership and they have been really good to us. That's what makes things work.
When your people in the community want to make the community better and give themselves - the Mattiolis have given a lot to this project - it's going to survive. The key thing is to actually make a transition where right now it's the Mattiolis and the City of Scranton. What I'd like to see is to kind of replicate what's been done with The Office Convention and St. Patty's Day and La Festa - it's a separate organization. It's the Fanfest organization because then you have people working on it 12 months a year. I've been working on it for the last six months, but, you know, tomorrow I have to deal with something else. I don't have the attention to do it.
The only thing I can tell you is I'm going to do it next year, regardless of how it turns out, because I know you have to push things at least three to four years. So I'm committed to at least the next three to four years - let this play out. And we will financially back it, too, because it's a good thing downtown for our stores and our shops.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be in one of those cars going 200 mph?
It's funny - you watch on TV and you don't get a sense of it at all. But anybody can drive and you know what it's like when you drive 70 mph. To drive 200 mph, I can't imagine what that's like. It's incredible.
Are you going to get into one of the driving simulators?
I probably will. I'm supposed to go Friday night to do the SPEED Weekend (show). I've never even been to Long Pond. I think I'm going to go to the race on Sunday, I'm planning to do it. This is the first time I'll have ever seen a race. They say once you see it, you're hooked. So I expect that's what will happen. I'm just really thankful for the Mattiolis and how kind they've been to us. And we're going to take advantage of it because that's what we should do.