At the March 21 meeting, Northampton Borough Council approved the request of the Rev. Jerry Mraz, retired pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Northampton, to have a linden tree and monument put in at Northampton Borough Municipal Park, Laubach Avenue and Smith Lane. The monument will be in remembrance of the Slavic forefathers who settled in Northampton and will join the Sister Cities plaza and monument, which help serve as a bond between Stegersbach, Austria and Northampton.

The linden tree was chosen for its standing as the official tree of both the Czech and Slovak republics.

“There is nothing (in the borough) to remember the Slavic group,” Mraz said. “I ask council to grant permission to have the monument erected in honor of the second century of our Slavic forefathers having a country of their own.”

He said Northampton became home to many different ethnic groups from the Slavic region of central Europe, including the Slovaks, Czechs, Hungarians, Polish, Moravians and others.

Mraz mentioned he will approach churches in the area with a Slavic background to join the project. The churches being contacted in Northampton are Holy Trinity Lutheran, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Queenship of Mary. St. John Fisher in North Catasauqua is also on the list.

“I also hope to get a representative from the Slovak consulate in New York City to be present at a dedication of the memorial,” he said.

The borough was not asked to make any monetary contributions to the project.

A date for the ceremony will be announced later.

The grounds at Municipal Park are also shared by the cement block house, which served as a fort during the French and Indian War and has been restored from its original location along the Hokendauqua Creek.