Friends and family came together at the Palmerton Area Library on Monday night for the unveiling of a special painting to commemorate the extraordinary and charitable life of Anita Harry, who passed away in 2016.

"I would often say she bleeds blue and white," Mata Curran, vice president of the library board, said of Harry. "She really did love Palmerton. In fact, they were thinking about moving out of town and getting an apartment. Anita wouldn't go out of town. She said, 'If you want to sell the house, I don't care, but I'm not leaving Palmerton.'"Harry, a legend of the community, worked as a secretary for the borough for 25 years, and then for the library for an additional five years. She dedicated an extraordinary amount of time and energy to Palmerton, serving as a Girl Scout leader, a member of the Palmerton Concourse Club, chairwoman of the Palmerton Knights of Columbus Ladies Auxiliary, a member of the Palmerton Centennial Committee, and secretary and treasurer of the Palmerton Bandstand Restoration Committee, in addition to many other civic and charitable groups."Even when she was sick, when she was in the hospital, she'd still have her folders, making calls. We had to take the phone away from her. She was sneaky about it," Diane Janny said of her mother's indomitable spirit.In 1999, Harry was awarded the Palmerton Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year Award, and in 2001, she received the Lehigh Gap Historical Society's Civic Award.The painting, a watercolor depiction of her beloved bandstand in Palmerton Park, was commissioned by the Friends of the Library from artist Paula Zelienka, who holds classes in the library."It's beautiful. She loved the bandstand, and her favorite flower was the calla lily. It really reminds you of her," Janny said.Andrea Green recalled some fond memories of many a night in the park, enjoying a concert with her sister."We used to sit with her at the band concerts on Sunday night.She never missed one, even with her wheelchair or walker, she was ready to go. She really loved this town," Green said.The painting will be permanently displayed in the lower level of the library, hopefully inspiring other residents to take up the torch of a great woman who was wholeheartedly dedicated to her community.One of Harry's longest friends, Joan Turko, said she was quite honored to have known such a benevolent woman who put Palmerton above all else."We had so many projects with Concourse Club, with the bandstand, with the concerts in the park. The lanterns in the park, the pathways in the park, the trees in the park," Turko said."There was so much to this woman. They just don't make them like that anymore. She was such a giver, she just gave. Nothing was a problem, or too much trouble, or anything like that. She was just a fabulous, wonderful woman."