Throwback Thursday: Party in the Plaza is canceled after going dry (vintage photos) [Video]

1984 was a very successful year for Syracuse’s “Party in the Plaza.”

In its fourth year, the weekly after-work party held on the plaza of the James M. Hanley Federal Building, had raised about $100,000 that summer for its sponsor, the Easter Seal Society, doubling the amount from the year before.

The money would be used to benefit the Easter Seal Society’s efforts to aid Onondaga County’s disabled.

Volunteers from the Updowntowners, a group dedicated to promoting downtown Syracuse, staffed the events.

The success of the Syracuse parties spawned similar Easter Seal fundraisers at public plazas in Albany, Buffalo, Binghamton and Utica.

In 1984, Don Wilson, of Fulton, said the parties were the “best thing Syracuse ever did.”

Marilyn Raymond, of Syracuse, called the party “very friendly,” and liked that it didn’t matter one how one was dressed, everyone had a good time.

Post-Standard reporter Melinda Johnson said everyone was …