Greg Strubinger spent 20 years in countless borough council meetings serving the town where he grew up.

On Thursday night, those with whom he spent many of those long nights returned the favor.

Jim Thorpe Borough Council presented Strubinger with a formal proclamation, recognizing his two decades of service that included 10 years as council president and involvement in nearly every major borough project during his tenure.

Council President Connor Rodgers read the proclamation into the minutes and offered a personal reflection on what Strubinger’s mentorship had meant to him.

“His dedication and leadership to serve have helped shape many of the improvements that we have here in the borough, including this very building (Memorial Hall) that we’re in, and we benefit from that today,” Rodgers said.

Strubinger, surrounded by family, said the recognition came as a surprise.

“It certainly wasn’t expected,” Strubinger, who did not seek reelection in 2025, said. “It was an honor and a blessing to serve the community — the borough that gave me so much as a youth growing up here. I had the honor to live here and work here and to raise my family here.”

He acknowledged that no accomplishment in public service happens alone.

“There’s always people that support us in what we do and that make our success for us, and that goes for all of us, whether it’s our co-workers or fellow council members,” Strubinger said. “I would just like to thank all the council members I worked with over the years, the chiefs and the mayors and the administration, the solicitor, and all those that supported what I was attempting to do here as a member of the council.”

Rodgers described Strubinger as someone who stood apart from others in elected office.

“Many times you come across elected officials who are part of the my way or the highway crowd,” Rodgers said. “I can say for a fact that (Strubinger) is not that kind of guy. He’s a compromiser.”

Rodgers said one piece of advice from Strubinger had stayed with him.

“There’s a line that he always said, and I think it’s very important to continue to say this for people interested in serving in elected office and local government,” Rodgers said. “A council member’s goal should be to leave the borough better off when they finish their career serving than when they started. And I can say, for a fact, that he’s one of those examples, and he fulfilled that mission.”

According to the proclamation, Strubinger served as vice president of borough council for a year and a half beginning in 2014 before becoming council president from 2015 through 2025. He chaired the council’s administration committee and was involved in establishing combined administration and police department offices under one roof, overseeing the renovation of Memorial Hall and overseeing construction of a new public works facility.

He also served on the borough’s police pension board, the Festival of Trees committee, the Memorial Park master site plan committee and the Civil Service Commission, and assisted in establishing the Thomas R. Highland Community Room in the police station.

As a teacher, the proclamation noted, Strubinger has 28 years in the Jim Thorpe Area School District focusing on high school business curriculum. He served as a class adviser, adviser to the district’s mock trial team and as the student activities school banker.

He saved particular thanks for his family, joking that his regular attendance at council meetings had tested everyone’s patience over the years.

“Rose (Strubinger’s wife) would say to me, ‘Do you have a meeting tonight?’ and I would say, ‘Yes, first and second Thursdays of the month,’ and I would get that look,” Strubinger said. “Without their support, we wouldn’t be able to accomplish what we do.”

Strubinger also took a moment to praise Rodgers, who served as the borough’s first junior council member while still a student at Jim Thorpe Area High School, saying the two had talked borough business long before Rogers was ever elected.

“Connor talks about learning from me, but I learned just as much from Connor as he may have from me,” Strubinger said. “He would kind of keep me on my toes. I would say he was kind of like my chief of staff on what’s going on with some things, and I might have had a blind spot or missed something.”

Former council member John McGuire, who spoke during public comment earlier in the meeting, also offered his thanks.

“I worked with (Strubinger) a lot, and I know he’s done a lot for this community,” McGuire said. “As a borough resident, I want to say thanks to him.”

Rodgers closed the presentation with a reflection that captured what he said he had always admired about Strubinger’s approach.

“Anybody would say that we don’t always see eye to eye on everything, but you always know where he stands, and he has strong common-sense thinking, and you can really respect that,” Rodgers said.