One of Lehighton’s most visible attractions has been embellished for all to see and enjoy.

The Lehighton Main Street Steering Committee hosted a cleanup/mulching event Monday morning in the Lower Park, with a group of 20 volunteers spending several hours sprucing up the park.

Volunteers pulled weeds, divided and transplanted some perennial plants, mulched around the trees as well as the monument and shrub beds, and hauled away the garbage, according to Mark Hoffman, who serves on various committees.

For Lehighton Area High School student Nickolas Smith, the activity was just another in a long list of volunteerism he partakes in.

“We’re remulching it to make it look more pretty,” Smith said. “It makes this place a lot better, and when they look beautiful, it has an attraction.”

In addition to the Main Street Steering Committee, Smith also volunteers with the Lehighton Fire Department and Lehighton Crime Watch, along with being a student council representative.

“It’s a very good example of people getting along,” he said. “Which is something we really need right now.”

Landon Abelovsky was busy hauling bags of mulch to trees by borough hall.

“I’m working on my community service for my Boy Scouts,” Landon said. “And my mom asked me to do this.”

His mother, Autumn Abelovsky, serves on borough council.

Boy Scouts community service and as a favor to his mother aside, Landon said he believes it’s a worthwhile project.

“I feel like it helps out the community by brightening up the parks so other people can enjoy it,” said Landon, who will be a seventh-grade student at Lehighton Area Middle School.

Along with the Main Street Steering Committee, organizations that assisted include the Lehighton Shade Tree Commission; Lehighton Downtown Initiative; Lehighton Parks & Recreation Committee; Lehighton Fire Company; Carbon Chamber and Economic Development Corporation; several members of borough council, Mayor Clark Ritter and his wife Carol; Public Works Department; and local business owners and community members.

Mark Hoffman, who serves on several of the community organizations, said the day’s work was successful.

“The fact that we were able to lay 130 bags of mulch within a three-hour period exceeded my expectations,” Hoffman said. “Since we ran out of mulch, we were not able to completely finish the entire park; however, the group has already asked when we can get together again to finish.”

Hoffman said the work that was achieved can’t be overstated.

“The mulch will not only help to control future weeds from emerging, but also to maintain moisture around the trees and shrubs while at the same time making the park look beautiful,” he said. “It should also help to ease the mowing and weed whacking around the trees and shrub beds.”

Hoffman noted that since it’s located in the center of town, the park attracts plenty of visibility from not only the residents who live in the community, but also visitors who pass through.

“When a visitor passes through our town and looks at a well-maintained park, free of weeds and debris, it portrays a town that has pride in not only their park and downtown, but their town in general,” he said. “The same is true when a resident of the town walks through on their way to the beautiful fountain, or to perhaps relax on a park bench under one of the park’s trees.”

Hoffman said by 8 a.m., the volunteers “eagerly and willingly show up to work hard on whatever is asked of them. Lehighton is blessed to have a lot of hardworking individuals who take a lot of pride in their town.”

Knowing these 20 volunteers were willing to spend three hours of their time with minimal notice speaks volumes to the culture and work ethic we have in Lehighton. Everyone worked hard, while openly laughing to make this project a huge success; this is what both volunteering and living in Lehighton is all about.”