First Posted: 8/5/2013
Photography by Amanda Dittmar
A string bikini, patterned one-piece, speedo, or board shorts – any type of swimwear can be sexy if done right.
Even though the summer season is winding down, things are still hot, hot, hot, and we’re turning it up a couple notches with the annual Weekender Swimsuit Issue.
This year, we shot at Montage Mountain’s Meltdown Water Park, where there are plenty of activities to fulfill all summer needs. There’s a lazy river to float down (with beer, if you catch the park on one of its Adult Swim nights); an adrenaline-pumping set of both tube and open, bumpy slides; a wave pool with a sea of lawn chairs by it to lay out in; and a large, multi-colored vortex that sends riders sloshing back and forth until their tube comes to a final stop in a pool below.
Montage is under new management, and it shows, as the park hosts not only adult swim nights, but yoga on the deck, a class for the kiddies, and boasts an impressive menu to choose from as well as a new sand-filled volleyball court, making it a great haven for people of any age to cool off and have fun.
Special thanks must also be given to Sapphire Salon for their hair and makeup work, specifically Kristen Roszel, Bobby Walsh, Genesis Tabone, Tiffany Arroyo Cedrone, Samantha Dommes, and Amber Wallace. The stylists made the ladies look gorgeous and beach-ready, in the simplest of ways.
And so, after all the hard work put forth by everyone involved, we finally get to reveal to you, the folks of NEPA, the hottest bodies and coolest personalities, and show you what makes their summer season go-round.
Bri Majikes looks at summer as the perfect time to make memories, as she points to all the great times she’s had with her close friends during the warm-weather months. The 19-year-old hair stylist from Wilkes-Barre also works at Odyssey Fitness, working out everyday and eating right to keep in bathing suit shape. Bri loves the beach, particularly Ocean City, Md., and would love to vacation in Hawaii some day because “it always looks so gorgeous in pictures.”
Candace Marie thinks of family when she hears the word “summer,” particularly swimming with her grandmother and aunts at Beach Lake as a child. Candace, 29, of Lake Ariel, who currently resides in the Poconos, works in Global Trade operations and would love to vacation at the Galapagos Islands to see the island ecosystems and kayak on a glass bottom boat.
Scott Nicholson loves “everything that goes along with getaway vacations” when it comes to summer, and the 22-year-old from Swoyersville prefers the short drive to Ocean City, Md., for his beach days. However, he would love to travel to Barcelona, Spain, for “the nightlife and overall atmosphere of the area.” Scott’s solution for keeping his beach body in top shape is simple: “I’ll eat anything in sight and fight to work it off.”
Julissa Montanez has a perfect summer vacation spot in mind, and it’s simple: “anywhere the water is blue, the sand is white, and the sun is hot,” so she can relax with a drink in her hand while working on her tan. The 21-year-old hair stylist from Binghamton, N.Y., who now resides in Wilkes-Barre, has also settled for a water park for her summer forays, though she had a bit of a gaffe at the H20000h! indoor park at Split Rock resort, where she fell on the Flow Rider surfing ride, causing her swim top to go up – “But I covered up in time, before anyone saw.”
Kenny Luck, The Weekender’s own “Single in Scranton” columnist, enjoys the sights of summer. “I enjoy it when the trees bloom and when all of nature is in its yearly zenith. Summer is a great time to take walks and to go hiking.” Kenny, 29, of Plymouth, currently residing in Dunmore, took advantage of the summer sights in one of his funniest summer memories, taking a trip to the West Coast, where he went skinny dipping in the Pacific Ocean, only to have a wave knock him over and take his swim trunks with it.
Alyssa Ceklosky enjoys the summer for its scorching weather and the nights she gets to spend with her friends (even though one such night, in her funniest summer memory, ended in getting booted out of River Grille). Alyssa, 22, of Plains Township, who is currently looking for a job in the psychology field, chose Florida Georgia Line’s “Round Here” as her summer anthem, loves to visit Wildwood, N.J., and uses puppy love to keep herself in shape, taking her furry friends for walks frequently.
Daniel Martin, a 23-year-old all-star cheerleading coach from Pittston currently living in Luzerne, prefers Wildwood, N.J., as his summer hot spot, particularly because of the times he’s visited with his family and found conch shells gathered on the shore line. His summer song is the Steve Aoki remix of “Pursuit of Happiness” by Kid Cudi, and he would love to one day vacation at Huntington Beach, Calif.
Amanda Young, of Phoenix, Ariz., who currently resides in Scranton, is all about the ballgame. The 22-year-old promotions model loved spending the weekend in Boston, Mass., recently to see the Red Sox play the Yankees at Fenway Park, where the Sox won at the bottom of the eleventh. Amanda, who keeps herself in beach shape by juicing veggies and running every day, would love to someday vacation in Valencia, Spain.
Terrell Johnson, of Mount Pocono, now residing in Kingston, knows the power a beach body can hold. The 30-year-old Abercrombie & Fitch store model, who now works in private security, was once law enforcement in Virginia Beach, where he said he would routinely come in contact with people going or leaving the beach dressed only in swimwear and “ladies would flirt with me, ask me out, or ‘flaunt their stuff’” in order to get out of a ticket. Unfortunately for them, Terrell said, it didn’t work.
Anastasia Bondar, our cover girl, 23, who lives in Scranton, actually hails from Taldy-Kurgan, Almaty, Kazakhstan, making her full-blown Russian. The dental hygienist and bartender enjoys vacationing with friends in the summer, and her fondest summer memory is kayaking down the Susquehanna River for the first time without tipping over. Ana’s summer anthem is “Right Now” by Rihanna, and she keeps herself fit in a peculiar way: “Lots of running, and Burger King,” which she said is her favorite food.
