The sound of a fountain’s rushing water and the feeling of a cooling mist is a perfect antidote to the blazing heat of July and August.

Many local towns feature centrally situated fountains, often surrounded by grass and trees and even benches that offer a cooling spot-on the hottest summer days.

Emmaus’ Triangle Park features a fountain that has become a landmark.

A cycling event each summer is just one that marks the calendar.

Emmaus resident Beth Strickland spearheads the event and has coordinated it for more than two decades.

“As soon as the Tour de France is announced, I send out messages to the riders,” Strickland said. “I started this event 23 years ago as a way to have something to do the second rest day of the Tour de France.”

“We started out at the bike shop,” Strickland said pointing down the street, “but when the bike shop moved across the street, we moved to the triangle” with the fountain in the background.

“The ride is the same each year and yet it is never so,” Stickland once wrote.

This year she was unable to participate because of an injury, but she kept the stats and encouraged the riders at the triangle.

The fountain in Emmaus becomes the spot for an old-fashioned Christmas tree lighting when the gushing waters cease for the winter.

According to Strickland, Lioness Club members knit hats and scarves and have them available for members of the community around Thanksgiving.

Triangle Park is the site for a Sunday morning market and tunes on the triangle during the summer brings the community out.

“This place is just packed with people,” Strickland said. “There’s something going on all the time here.”

In nearby Carbon County, a fountain surrounded by maple and chestnut trees provides an oasis from the summer heat in Lehighton’s lower park, at the center of town.

The fountain, illuminated by red, green, pink and orange lights, runs 24 hours a day.

“People come here for their prom and wedding pictures,” said Kathy Long, vice president of the Lehighton Area Heritage Alliance.

The current fountain replaces one of cast iron that featured an angel holding a parasol.

“Over the years, it went out of service and needed to be replaced,” Long said. “This [fountain] was a WPA Project, one of several things they did in the area.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Federal Works Program in 1935 to provide jobs for over 8.5 million unemployed Americans through public works projects, from construction to the arts.

The design of the original statue was selected from a 19th-century trade publication preserved by the Smithsonian.

In Victorian times, city planners could order iron fountains and other items pictured in the catalog for public spaces.

“There were catalogs and you could buy a statue for your park,” Long said.

In the winter, Lehighton’s Christmas tree draws local residents to the park and the fountain is transformed.

“I call it a winter fountain, only with lights,” Long said with a smile.

Not too far away, in Tamaqua, the John E. Morgan Memorial Fountain located in the center of town creates an arresting sight.

The 12-foot-high fountain has been called the “crowning glory” of Depot Square Park, where Routes 309 and 209 intersect.

Built of concrete and marble, the five-tier Victorian-style fountain was funded by the estate of late local industrialist John E. Morgan and was dedicated in 2002.

In addition to municipalities, fountains beautify other areas as well.

Kutztown University in Berks County boasts several fountains.

Hand-carved stone walls and a cascading waterfall is a central feature of Alumni Plaza at the university.

A tiered cannon-style fountain is located on the south end of campus, known to the students as the DMZ.

Klaus Ihlenfeld constructed the hammered copper and phosphor bronze sculpture at his studio in Pottstown, in celebration of the university’s centennial anniversary.