A Palmerton committee continues to make headway in its pursuit to have new decorations adorn the borough park by Christmas.

Members of the Palmerton Holiday Lighting Committee met at the home of Joe and Marj Federanich on Wednesday, after which they later gathered in the borough park.Joe Federanich, who serves as chairman of the committee, announced that a bank account has been established through the Palmerton Area Chamber of Commerce.The committee then agreed to award a bid for four new poles in the park to Pencor Construction in the amount of $1,400.A mailing list will be sent out to each of the households within the general Palmerton area to solicit broad based community support to help underwrite the cost of the initiative.Federanich said mailings will be made to Aquashicola, Bowmanstown, Kunkletown, Lehighton, and Palmerton area homes all within the Palmerton Area School District.In all, he said about 1,800 people will get their solicitation as part of their quarterly sewage and water bill from the borough, at which time the committee will make additional mailing forms available at the three banks in town, the Palmerton Area Library, and the Palmerton Memorial Pool.The group plans to stuff the envelopes in the borough hall between June 17-21. The mailings are expected to be sent out by the end of this month.Federanich said everyone who sends in a donation as part of the mailing for the solicitation of community support to help underwrite the cost of the initiative will receive a thank-you letter.In another positive development, Federanich announced that the committee has received a $3,000 grant from the Horsehead Community Development Fund. That means the committee now has $6,000 set aside, $2,000 of which was from the Palmerton Concourse Club's Christmas House Tour, and $1,000 that the Carbon County Chamber of Commerce raised at last year's Palmerton Community Festival.The committee said it would like to host a December in the Park event on Saturday, Dec. 7, from noon to 5 p.m.Afterward, the committee met in the park with Rick Snyder, sales representative, Rileighs Outdoor Decor, of Bethlehem.It was agreed at that time to go with 29 silhouette snowflake lights, which will appear around the park along Third Street, Fourth Street, and Lafayette Avenue, as well as colored string lights.The lights around the park along Delaware Avenue are expected to be ready by Christmas of 2014.At a Palmerton Chamber luncheon in March, Federanich said the borough would like to have new Christmas decorations throughout its downtown by 2014.Federanich said the town committee was formed to pick the decorations, and help raise money to afford them. The committee will seek assistance from businesses, organizations, and the community at large, he said.Kern previously noted that the original decorations were put up in the 1990s, and refurbished about 10 years ago.The committee's next meeting has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 7.