At its annual Founder’s Day celebration recently, The Swain School celebrated the 86th year of its founding by D. Esther Swain.

The day’s events included a program in which Pat Wood Beldon, of Allentown, was honored with the annual Trustee Award for community service.

The award is given in recognition of service to the greater community, by a member of The Swain School family. It includes a crystal bowl and $1,000 cash award.

Beldon donated the cash award back to the school to support its own community service initiatives.

In addition to serving the Swain community as a trustee 2000 through 2008, she is a founding member and former president of the Women’s Leadership Council of the United Way, an organization that raises and donates funds for educational opportunities for women and children in the community.

Beldon is a board member of the Community Bike Works and a past board member of The Program for Women and Families.

Beldon supports the Empty Bowls Committee, an annual fundraiser for Second Harvest Food Bank and Bountiful Bowls Committee, which raises funds for Meals on Wheels in Lehigh County. She also holds membership in SOTA, the volunteer and fundraising arm of the Allentown Art Museum and is a member of the planning committee for the Girl Scouts’ annual Take the Lead dinner event.

In accepting her award, Beldon cited the positive influence of her family and encouraged Swain students to support their community as leaders and volunteers.

Following the award, all kindergarten students and all students and faculty new to Swain this year received an honor pin as part of a special pinning ceremony. As part of the ceremony, everyone in the audience recited the school’s honor pledge.

In addition to student performances, Founder’s Day ceremonies included the annual tree planting ceremony, which originated Oct. 24, 1951, when Mrs. Swain organized the planting of a Dedication Tree in honor of United Nations Day. Mrs. Swain began the custom when the school moved to its permanent campus at 1100 South 24th St., Allentown.

This year’s tree was donated by the family of Dr. Jonathan, Class of 1988 and Jennifer Shingles, of Hellertown, in honor of their children Luke, Class of 2017, Rose, Class of 2019 and Jake, Class of 2021. Representatives from each of the school’s preschool through eighth grade classrooms assisted Interim Head of School David Hursty in the tree-planting ceremony.

For more information visit www.swain.org.