The foreboding skies did not deter Catasauqua residents from coming out to the George Taylor House's season opening day May 4. Brenda Wieder, who is Catasauqua's contact person for the George Taylor House, has set up a lively round of seasonal activities.

"The house will be open for tours on the first and third Sundays of every month," she said. "Starting mid-June, we will have a farmers market on the grounds."

Other special dates on the calendar include the Bethlehem Palette Club Paint Out in the morning of June 18. July 4 will feature the traditional reading of the Declaration of Independence along with other Old Home Week festivities.

The wine tasting festival, now in its fourth year, will be the evening of July 19. Fest o' Fall rounds out the season Oct. 4 with food and music.

According to Wieder, restoration work is underway on the annex to the house. The kitchen annex was "updated" decades ago to accommodate a caretaker. The new renovation will take the walls back to their original character. Local archeologists are analyzing the findings to better authenticate the structure.

The featured event on opening day was a performance by the Catasauqua Middle School Chorus, under the direction of Mark Schultheis. The chorus began with the fifth- and sixth-grade carolers singing "Stand by Me" and concluding with "YMCA."

A special Swing Chorus subset performed "Puttin' on the Ritz." The afternoon rounded out with the full chorus singing "Stronger" and concluding with a melody from the musical "Grease."

Maypole dancers from the Suburban North Y followed the entertainment, wrapping trees on the property with May ribbons. According to Jessica Kroope, borough councilwoman who coordinated the event, the ribbons will stay on the tree for the summer.

"The Maypole Dance is a tradition in European nations that was brought over here with the Pilgrims," she said. The dance is a choreographed round with alternate participants going one way and their counterparts going the other. The end result is the ribbons originally draped from the tree trunk now embrace the tree in a woven pattern.

In the opening ceremony, Kroope acknowledged local residents who purchased and engraved bricks on the memorial plaza on the grounds. Bricks are available for $50 and as a permanent marker. According to Kroope, funds from the sale of the bricks will be used to craft a statue of George Taylor to be placed atop the pedestal monument on the lawn of the house.