In the past, Catasauqua’s July Fourth celebration has been a day of food, fun, frolics, and of course, basketball.

The day has been appropriately dubbed “J4,” and the celebration is only held when the holiday falls on a weekend. The next J4 day will be celebrated in 2026.

Also, the current Catasauqua Playground Summer Basketball League is in its final regular-season week before the playoffs begin next week.

Catty boys’ head basketball coach Eric Snyder, who has played a pivotal role in the basketball end of the project, recalls some of the more epic names and games from the past. Town legend Larry Miller made his mark at the tournament.

Through the years, there have been as many as eight local teams in the tournament. Local favorites the Catty Cubs and Little Brown Jug teams always were teams to watch.

“He played here over the years,” noted Snyder. “We had a lot of good games. People would drive by the playground to watch. Before you knew it, they were getting something to eat, and walked around for the other things.

“We had guys like Ray Laubach, Tony Ebner, John Yanek, Jay Haines, Dan Marakovits, Donny Wolf, and Bob Superka to mention a few who would play. We would also have competitions, like three-pointers and foul shooting.

“I know that Palmerton head coach Ken Termini played here, and the boys varsity team would play Northampton. It was a friendly rivalry game. There also were alumni games, and we had a team of exchange students from Spain. I remember one time when Notre Dame’s (the late) Jeff Dailey scored 29 points in a row.

“It also proved to be an interesting day.”

On the present front, the Catty League’s final set of regular-season games were held last Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and the following Monday.

The opening round of the playoffs began Tuesday, July 11 with the matchups of #7 vs. #10, #8 vs. #9, and #4 vs. #5. The following day in the quarterfinals, #3 will meet #6, #2 will meet the higher seed, and #1 will meet the lower seed.

Semifinals will be held July 13, and the championship is slated for July 17.