Jeff Ward Jul 17, 2023
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Portland bills itself as the “Gateway to the Poconos,” but this October, the action will be in the borough.
The borough will receive $10,900 from Northampton County for its Oct. 21 Founders’ Day Celebration. The party is about the town’s history, but everybody is invited to see what Portland has to offer.
We really want people from outside our area to see how great it is,” Mayor Heather Fischer told County Council earlier this month.
“Little Portland Borough has had its fair share of trials and tribulations of late,” County Executive Lamont McClure said earlier in July as he presented Mayor Heather Fischer to make her pitch for funding. As the COVID-19 pandemic wound down, Route 611 – Portland’s main thoroughfare – was shut by rockslides. The small borough by the Delaware River is coming back, McClure said.
“Supporting Founders’ Day is very important to this administration,” McClure said.
Portland is indeed a little borough, with 494 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It was founded Oct. 21, 1876, and Founders’ Day will be held Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. The grant may not appear to be huge, but it works out to about $22 per resident, the basis of a pretty good party.
Mayor Fischer said being a small town is not necessarily a bad thing.
“Instead of looking at the size of our borough as a negative, we’ve embraced it as a positive,” she told County Council’s Economic Development committee on July 6. A half-mile square town with river views has a lot to offer, she said, with events that reflect the local character. Another goal is to engage young people so they put down their phones and electronic devices.
Among the events planned are a scavenger hunt, raffles, live music and a trolley will run on a loop on Portland’s streets during the event. There will be axe throwing, and for children, a safer experience: plush axes with Velcro.
The history of the borough includes indigenous people, who will be represented by the non-profit organization Paza Tree of Life. “Paza” means tree of life in the Lakota language, according to the organization’s website.
The $10,900 request is larger than some the committee has reviewed, Chairwoman Tara Zrinski said, but she noted it is not an annual request.
“It’s very important to understand your heritage,” Zrinski said in supporting the funding.
The grant comes from a tax the county imposes on hotel stays to support events that promote tourism.
Some materials created for Founders’ Day will be used for later events, Fischer said, and in keeping with the theme of being a small town, she said some items for the celebration will be borrowed. Founders’ Day will be held just a week before Halloween, and Fischer said visitors will get to see how Portland decorates for that holiday.
Council member John Cusick, who lives in Williams Township, pointed one problem small towns can have with big events: parking.
“Once you make people sit in a traffic jam, they will never come back,” he said. Fischer said the borough has made arrangements for parking and added that the trolley will allow for people to join the event at various spots in Portland.
County Council later approved McClure’s request for the grant unanimously.