POTTSTOWN — Although it was a day off for many, Pottstown was alive with activity Monday. Throughout the borough, observations were held and services were offered to the community, all to celebrate the spirit of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the federal holiday set aside for his birthday.
· Things were kicked off early at the Pottstown Regional Public Library where a group of volunteers from Vanguard, Pottstown High School, the library and others gathered at 8 a.m. to paint the building’s main floor.
· In need of a new paint job, an assessment came back as way too costly. As such, Danielle O’Brien, of Vanguard’s Resource and Planning Department, along with John Armato, of the Pottstown School District, organized an event to provide the library with paint and volunteer workers.
· It was estimated that more than 60 people showed up to paint the library two shades of purple, blue, and a light, tan-yellow.
· “I think everybody owes it to give back to their community a little bit,” O’Brien, a Pottstown High grad, said. “That was one of the things that Martin Luther King was about, service and giving back.”
· Pottstown School District Superintendent Reed Lindley could be seen atop a ladder in a corner, his wears the same shade of blue as the newly painted wall in the children’s section.
· Lindley, also a member of the library’s board, said that the district has partnered with Vanguard in the past for similar service projects and that it was a good match for the library’s needs.
· “If you look around, they’ve done a great job,” he said. “It’s certainly a benefit to the community and to the school district and to all of us.”
· Michael Packard and Leslie Stillings, the library’s executive director and director of youth services, respectively, clad in painting clothes, were thrilled with the work, especially since they probably couldn’t have expected new paint on the walls without the extra help.
· “This is where the community congregates,” Stillings said. “It’s uplifting.”
