The landscape around the borough hall in Atglen is now a little brighter thanks to the efforts of volunteers who planted flowers around the building, as well as in large flowerpots located along Main Street.

The event was part of Atglen Park and Recreation Commission's annual Atglen Beautification Day held on May 21. According to commission member Tara Wheeler, who was accompanied to the event by her husband Joe, varieties planted in the flower beds and the pots included geraniums, impatiens, pansies and, new this year, verbenas.

Emily Reid, park and recreation commission chairperson, said that the effort has taken place annually for the past six or seven years, including during the pandemic. "We are hoping to keep growing this every year. It's fun and it looks great," she said. "We only have two intersections here in Atglen, and we want them to look nice to people passing through."

Prior to planting, the flower beds were mulched by members of the borough's utility works crew. "The borough council approved our purchase of the flowers and the flowerpots," noted Reid. "We have more flowerpots on order so that we can (place them) on both sides of the street. Eventually, we want to (add) more in front of Atglen Public Library."

The giant flowerpots were purchased last spring from Perfect Pots in Lancaster. "We have partnered with them to order (additional) pots so we can keep getting the same ones, so they are uniform," said Reid. "When they delivered them, they did a mesh on the bottom to cover the drainage holes and they (added) rocks, dirt and fertilizer to fill it up for us. Then, we planted (flowers in) them."

She added that the borough hall is also the site of a book sharing box, which residents can visit to take a book or share a book.

There is also a park bench at the building. The borough received the bench through Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, which organized the distribution of garden benches to communities through Giant Food Store's "Bags to Benches" initiative. "Last year, we got a bench from the Keep America Beautiful program. It is completely made of recycled plastic bags," Reid said.

Atglen Borough Hall is located at 120 Main St. For additional information about the borough, including upcoming events, visit http://www.atglen.org or search for "Atglen Borough" on Facebook.