Coaldale Borough Council on Tuesday gave its permission to the Coaldale Lions Club to hang 50 banners on utility poles throughout the community.

Lions Club member William Gaddes, who designed the banners, asked council for its permission at a regular public meeting Tuesday.Councilman Joe Hnat moved to grant permission, pending approval from PPL to hang the banners."With luck, we will have banners in the area of borough hall and the center area of Phillips Street for Memorial Day," Gaddes said."There is a big task that involves working with PPL," he said. "We must identify each pole by number and location, and obtain approval for each banner. There are stringent rules regarding banner size, location, method of attachment, height above and clearance from traffic, etc. (Councilman) Steve Tentylo, chairman of the street committee, and Kenneth Hankey, foreman of the Coaldale borough workforce, have agreed to help us. Kenny's people will do the actual installation, as they have for our American flags. Without their help, we could not accomplish this program. The Coaldale LIONS Club is grateful for their help."Gaddes said he is almost finished identifying the 33 poles by number, and has the forms needed by PPL.The banners "represent our heritage of the anthracite mining industry," club President Bob Ames said in a press release. "The Coaldale Colliery is shown, and the printing is done in black on an orange background. We are gratified to be able to accomplish this important project for the Borough of Coaldale. It will complement the successful American flag program that we supported last year."The club has agreed to buy 33 banners for this year, Gaddes said. The banners will be located as follows: Water Street (6); Phillips Street (13); Bull Run Street (2); Borough Hall area (2); Second Street (5); Fifth Street (5).If the effort is satisfactory, an additional 17 banners will be purchased in 2012.The banners, with hardware, cost $115 each. Gaddes invited residents and businesses to help defray the cost of the banners."We Lions have been very aggressive in supporting local needs, especially with regard to vision needs of the Panther Valley. We have spent $4.500 in 2009 and 2010 helping people with vision problems. In 2008, we donated $10,000 to Miner's Memorial Hospital's new Intensive Care Unit," he said."We Lions are requesting that citizens, friends, and commercial establishments in Coaldale provide assistance in defraying the cost of the pole banners. In this manner, we can continue our primary mission of providing financial help to those in the Panther Valley who need glasses or other critical vision care," Gaddes said.One local business, Cabrera's Restaurant, Lansford, has already purchased a banner, Gaddes said."We have many faithful customers from Coaldale. I am proud to be able to support the Coaldale Lion's banner program. The banners are unique, and I am sure that the citizens of Coaldale will be very proud of them," owner Leonel Cabrera said in a prepared statement.