Greetings and salutations, my friends.

Now that we’ve been blessed with more-than-adequate rainfall this past weekend, look forward to the floral colors of spring really taking hold in our yards and parks.

You’ll be certain to observe our fine public works crew not only sprucing up our parks and planting the monarch butterfly station near the gazebo at Canal Street Park, but also hanging the next wave of 95 Hometown Heroes banners on light posts around town. I’m just about finished with the last of the applications and photo retouching, so my goal of getting all of the banners in place by Memorial Day is looking good. I couldn’t think of a better tribute to enhance such a meaningful holiday.

Before I continue, I want to again thank Northampton Press editor Kelly Lutterschmidt for providing me free reign to write these articles. I’ve been very humbled by the positive responses I’ve received, as I really enjoy keeping you abreast of our local events and successes, hoping it encourages you to join me to “Build a Better Northampton.”

That said, even with the space Kelly generously allows me, I find I have many more items to share with you throughout the month than this space would reasonably allow. Therefore, I ask you to follow me on my Facebook page, where I’ll be regularly updating and featuring all sorts of local information; many fun, colorful photos; and even some video content in and around town.

The goal is to continually focus on all things Northampton throughout the whole month. All you need to do is look up Mayor Tony, Northampton, Pa., on your computer’s search engine. The site, “Mayor Tony - Northampton, PA - Facebook,” will be listed in the resulting search.

There’s absolutely no need to be on Facebook, as this is a direct line into my page. Then, sit back and enjoy the many photos and regularly updated, detailed happenings around town.

We’ve recently had an exciting start to this spring with the fun and excitement of the Northampton Police Department’s annual fishing derby and raffle. With a most generous donation from the Northampton Exchange Club, they assured we’d have more than 300 trout freshly stocked and ready for anglers.

A very appreciative thank you to our friends at the Exchange Club.

As a warm, festive atmosphere grew throughout the day, anglers of all ages took to the Hoken- dauqua Creek, reeling in some of those beautiful trout. Along with the Exchange Club providing a tasty menu for our hungry guests, the generous donations of baskets and gift certificates for the raffle and the ever-growing list of eager contestants for the derby, the NPD really delivered an enjoyable day for all.

At the same time the derby was taking place, Hollywood came to Northampton as local actor and director Dan Roebuck held the world premiere of his most recent movie, “Lucky Louie,” at the Roxy Theatre. As Uptown Park served as the site for the cast’s meet-and-greet before the two scheduled shows, more than 800 moviegoers took in the sold-out shows and patronized our local restaurants and shops.

Given all of the fine theaters across the Lehigh Valley, we are honored our beloved Roxy, recognized for its unparalleled art-deco beauty and timeless charm, was Dan’s choice for this prestigious event.

Owner Richard Wolfe continues to make Northampton proud, and I am thankful for all he does to maintain and promote the Roxy and uptown Northampton. Well done, Richard!

Not to be left out of the excitement, our fire department played a pivotal role in the recent mock oil spill drill, hosted by Buckeye Partners as a two-day, companywide training exercise. More than 100 Buckeye employees set up a central command in the community center to handle what played out as a 450-barrel oil leak in the Lehigh River.

The department was charged with setting up more than 600 feet of buoys across the Lehigh River at Tri-Boro Sportsmen Club, mitigating and absorbing the pretend oil spill. For their efforts and participation in this detailed and informative exercise, they received a nice $2,500 donation from Buckeye.

Fire Chief Keith Knoblach told me he was happy with the department’s execution and organization, as it was the first real-time exercise in which the NFD participated. The exercise was an eye-opening experience for me, too, as I was tasked with working in my role as mayor alongside their management and public relations staff, intertwined with all of the developments and hiccups that came with such a drill.

I was even thrown into an intense news conference as the event’s final exercise. It was quite the experience. Although we’re ready, I hope we’ll never need to put this training into action.

For now, I wish you all the best and hope you’re out and about enjoying these longer spring days, the warmer weather and all our borough has to offer for your enjoyment.

Take care!