This year’s Catasauqua Arbor Day celebration, held April 30, was the largest outing in decades.

There are numerous outstanding citizens who contribute toward making the borough a great community. This year, the Catasauqua Shade Tree Commission selected special people for their contributions to the history of Catasauqua.

The honored Catasauqua residents are Cheryl Butler as a volunteer at the Halloween parade; Gordon Roberts for service in the Civil Service Commission; Robert Searfass for 61 years as a firefighter; Larry Miller, a nationally outstanding athlete; Brian Bartholomew, borough volunteer; Joe Carl, for 22 years as emergency management coordinator; Donald Sweda, Purple Heart survivor at Iwo Jima; Mary Jo Johnson, borough volunteer; Alfred Regits, for overseeing the park system and pool; Kris Kish, borough volunteer; Sam Patel, of DnD Market, for his valuable contribution to the community; Main Streets volunteers, represented by Jackie Harth and Kim Brubaker; Public Library of Catasauqua; Hartzells’s Pharmacy, for its COVID-19 clinic; and Jeff MacHose, public works director, and Pat MacHose, borough administrator, for their service to the borough.

Each tree, planted as part of the sidewalk/landscape project along Front Street, is an ivory silk Japanese lilac tree. In the past, the borough had a thriving silk business owned by D. George Dery that started in 1897 and was the world’s largest individual silk manufacturer during the Gilded Age.

There were other special dedications. The George Taylor House Committee received a magnolia tree for the grounds of the historic George Taylor House. Jill Smerdon, in memory of her father, Jerry Wallace, dedicated an evergreen that will serve as the borough’s Christmas tree at the municipal park.

Pastor Brian Riedy of Holy Trinity Memorial Lutheran Church held an invocation for all residents of the borough.

This is the last year for Chairman Robert Bastian, who served on the shade tree commission for decades. The new chairman is Robert Zakos.