Welcome to the Northampton Commons, which are dedicated today, in honor of those residents who volunteer to serve our community.

While we dedicate these Commons to the volunteer residents, I would be remiss not to mention the contributions that make Northampton a premier community by the Administration and Staff, the Public Works Department and the Police Department. They are the ones who bring the efforts of the volunteers to fruition.

The center of Richboro was looking bad for a period of time. Two closed gas stations, a closed up strip of stores, a boarded up restaurant and a boarded up school. For the past two years many things have happened behind the scenes to bring a number of projects forward. What has happened and what is happening is that many resident volunteers have put in hours and hours of their time to look at some of these problems and come up with solutions. Whether it is the Planning Commission, the Richboro 2000 Committee, the Historical Commission or the Park and Recreation Board, to name a few, these people have given unselfishly to their community. The vision that these people have shown in the planning for this Commons as well as the other improvements scheduled for the Richboro Commercial area is exemplary.

In the coming months many projects will take place that will add sidewalks to the area, add street lights to the area, remove the boards and bring life back to the older buildings. These improvements will be done in conjunction with safety features such as new traffic lights and more efficient traffic patterns. These things don’t happen overnight, they don’t happen by accident, they don’t happen without dedication. These Commons are dedicated in your honor.

While we just focused on the government volunteer that makes Northampton great, let us not forget the many others who give to the community. Baseball, Cheerleading, Football, Library,

Basketball, Senior Center, Soccer, Church groups, Civic Groups and La Crosse are a number of organizations that count on the residents of Northampton to volunteer their services in support of

the community. None of these programs could be successful without the efforts of hundreds of volunteers dedicated to making life better for residents of Northampton. These Commons are dedicated in your honor.

Northampton Township is 26 square miles with a population of 39,000 and many people fail to realize that we are serviced by a volunteer fire department, fire police and Ambulance/Rescue

Squad. These individuals give hundreds of hours of their time for training, just to be able to give more time, in actual service to the community. We cannot forget the sacrifices that these people make while putting their lives on the line for our community. These Commons are dedicated in your honor.

Whether you be a Board member or coach, Library aid or emergency service personnel it is that volunteer spirit in all of you that makes Northampton Township a great place to live. When anyone passes these Commons, let them remember that it is dedicated in Honor of those residents who volunteer to serve our community.