As founders of the Archbald Neighborhood Association, we both have a deep appreciation for our town and the people that live in it. We both went away to college, traveled around the world, and then decided to come back to our hometown of Archbald. Often times when we would travel to these other communities for events, we would see things we wished we could have in our town too, whether it be a bustling river trail that brings boaters from all over like in the Lehigh River Valley or a well-planned downtown with shops and communal areas. We thought, “I wish we had that where we live!”
When the pandemic hit, it was clear we weren’t going to be traveling any time soon. Many people took this time to work on home improvement projects, us included. But we also thought it was the perfect time to work on improving our town, and thus we started a community organization. We really had nothing figured out except ideas and enthusiasm, but as soon as we started sharing our ideas, doors started opening.
We met many people in and outside of our town who wanted to help us, guide us and work with us! Consider this a reminder; you don’t need to have it all figured out. Start taking steps toward your goals, and things will fall into place.
Over the past few months, we’ve organized community art and holiday decorating contests but wanted to shift our focus to supporting local restaurants. We came up with the idea of “Take out Thursday” in December when in-door dining was mandated to stop.
Our goal was to encourage locals to order take-out from Archbald restaurants to help these local businesses get through the shutdown. By purchasing from local restaurants you are supporting the businesses and ensuring the employees maintain their jobs.
Each week, we choose one or two restaurants to feature and share our favorite dishes from each. We plan to feature every restaurant in Archbald. We are encouraging people to share a picture of their take-out on Facebook to be entered for their chance to win a gift certificate to an Archbald restaurant.
Please see our Facebook page for details about the contest. We are so thankful to have so many amazing local businesses in Archbald, and we want to foster appreciation for them.
We are very excited for the warmer weather to come since we have a few events planned and a bunch of ideas in the works. This spring, we plan to launch our virtual walking tour that was made possible by a grant through the Lackawanna County Office of Arts and Culture.
We also want to create one or more murals throughout Archbald. We want to promote more outdoor recreation by partnering with Steamtown MTN, a group that organizes trail runs and walks. We also would like to continue our partnership with the Lackawanna Historical Society, Archbald Historical Society, the Lackawanna River Conservation Association and local fisherman, who use the Lackawanna River as a destination for fly fishing.
We have plans to create a free fitness circuit that can be easily accessed by people utilizing the Heritage Trail. We would like to organize educational community workshops on how to build a rain barrel, how to compost or anything else that our community may want.
One of our long-term goals is to revitalize Main street, in hopes to make it a more centralized business district with additional shops and restaurants. We are so grateful for the support we have received from the Archbald Borough Council and from Mayor Shirley Barrett and look forward to building a stronger community.
We also want to hear from our neighbors! Please connect with us on Facebook by searching Archbald Neighborhood Association and let us know what you want to see in the community!
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