On a warm, beautiful evening May 24, Coplay residents assembled to hear good music, enjoy friendship and watch the ribbon-cutting dedication of the borough’s community clock at Community Plaza, North Second and Chestnut streets.

Entertainment was provided by the Castaways, a popular local band playing contemporary music enjoyed by the attendees. Some attendees danced. It was a festive evening all around.

Coplay Mayor Stephen J. Burker was the master of ceremonies for the evening. He read a proclamation honoring those who contributed to the purchase of the clock and highlighted the dedication.

The community clock was a multiyear council project, as the elected leaders labored to accumulate funding for the clock and minimize taxpayer dollars for its purchase and installation.

The cost of the clock, according to Burker, was more than $30,000.

The Thomson family - Ruth and her children, Reed, Robin and Ross - donated $10,000 toward the clock purchase. The donation was in the memory of Ruth’s deceased husband and father of their children, Roger W. Thomson, who died in 1993 at the age of 56. He was a beloved police chief and popular throughout the community, having served in the Coplay Police Department for 25 years.

Other contributors toward the purchase of the clock were the Coplay Community Days Committee, Coplay Saengerbund and Coplay Recreation and Welfare. Burker noted other families and individuals donated to the clock purchase, and various fundraising efforts held by the American Club of Coplay raised additional funds for the clock.

Ruth Thomson used an oversized scissor provided by state Rep. Jeanne McNeill, D-133rd, to cut a large red ribbon at the ceremony. She was surrounded by some Coplay elected officials, other contributors and McNeill.

Burker thanked the entire group of contributors to the purchase of the clock. He expressed gratitude to all who attended the event, making the ceremony more meaningful.

The clock ceremony was added to the schedule of the borough’s weekly summer concert series called the Twilight Series. The Twilight Series is the brainchild of Burker, with concerts throughout the spring and summer.

The next concert is June 22 with A Pair of Aardvarks entertaining. The Twilight Series events begin 6 p.m.

If your wristwatch breaks, you can go down to the Coplay Community Plaza to see what time it is from, arguably, the finest looking community clock in the Lehigh Valley.