Tamaqua’s newest park is being readied for an Independence Day celebration.

“July Fourth is coming up and we’re working on Liberty Tree pocket park downtown. It’s coming along very nice,” borough manager Kevin Steigerwalt said at council’s recent meeting.

The park is at 31 N. Railroad St. and across from the Tamaqua Train Station.

Steigerwalt thanked Steve Matalavage for the work he’s been doing.

“He’s doing a fantastic job,” Steigerwalt said.

A banner for the park will be installed at the back of Tommy’s Restaurant, at the side of the park, sometime next week.

“And some other improvements will be made before the Fourth,” Steigerwalt said. “It’s coming along really nice and it’s funded mainly with donations.”

He reminded all about the 10 a.m. July 4 celebration commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States.

The guest speaker will be John E. Jones III, president of Dickinson College and former chief judge of the U.S. Middle District Court of Pennsylvania.

The event will include a welcome from Mayor David Clemson, music by the Cressona Band, participation by Tamaqua’s C.H. Berry American Legion Post No. 173 and a prayer by Rev. Josh Nemeth, of St. Peter’s Church in Mahoning Valley.

In addition, there will be participation from Tamaqua/Mahanoy Chapter of the Masonic Lodge, Pledge of Allegiance led by Don Searfoss, and the national anthem by area vocalist Carly Green. Steve Ulincy, a Benjamin Franklin impersonator and American history teacher at Tamaqua Area High School, will recite Thomas Paine’s poem “Liberty Tree.”

Angelique Ramirez, the winner of the fifth-grade essay contest on the theme “What America’s 250th Means to Me” will read her entry.

As part of the ceremony, the Mahantongo Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will dedicate an America 250 Patriots Marker at the park. It also will be home to Schuylkill County’s America250 bell a student-led project developed by Tamaqua Area Middle School students under the direction of Kim Woodward.

The park hosts a tree that is a descendant of the last surviving Liberty Tree in Annapolis, Maryland.