At Monday’s Weissport Borough Council meeting, members noted the success of the borough’s first Santa parade and tree lighting that took place Saturday.

During the event, several borough officials drove around the Weissport area and provided gifts donated by local businesses to children in the community. Once the parade ended, they gathered at the gazebo at Weissport Park for a tree lighting ceremony and pizza.

Borough secretary Jennifer Ketchledge thanked everyone involved in the event.

“Thank you to everyone that did something Saturday, it meant a lot to those children. Those kids were so excited, one was even shaking when she got a gift. I want to say thank you to everybody that helped because we wouldn’t have been able to do it without everybody. It was very, very heartwarming. To all the people who volunteered, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Councilman Thomas Ketchledge said it was nice to see the people of Weissport receive positive recognition.

“We had a lot of people in town come out taking videos and taking pictures. We got a lot of public comments saying that no matter what kind of bad name Weissport got, the people in it are still good people and out doing this stuff.”

Ketchledge said that the event attracted more people than the borough was originally expecting considering the preparations for the event took place only two weeks before it occurred. He estimated the event had 50 children in attendance.

Mayor Paulette Watson also commented on the success of the event, even indicating that the borough plans to host it again next year.

“Even though I was warm in the police car, I felt warm inside every time I would see a little kid out there. It was a good feeling and all of us together that participated, I know we all had a good feeling at the end of it. It was a great outcome and a great success. We’re looking forward to doing it again next year. We can beef it up a little bit too, ’cause we’ll have more time.”

Ketchledge also shared a message from Pastor Samuel Carey of Hope Community Fellowship regarding the free Christmas dinner the church plans to hold this year.

Registration for the dinner has been extended to Dec. 11 and everybody is welcome to participate. The church is located on 306 Bridge St., Weissport. Dinners will be available for pick up, as well as delivery within a 5-mile radius on Dec. 13 from noon until 2 p.m. Platters will include food such as turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, corn, filling, rolls and cranberry sauce.

To register for the dinner, visit www.facebook.com/HopeCommunityFellowshipChurch. For more information, email samchcfc@gmail.com or call 610-379-2181.