He’s been a valued member of the Lehighton Shade Tree Commission for a dozen years.

For his years of service to the organization, Ken Leffler was recognized by borough council on Monday.

Mark Hoffman, chairman of the shade tree commission, said that out of 996 towns and cities in the state, only 115 are Tree City USAs, Lehighton among them.

“We’ve come a long way,” Hoffman said. “Along the way, we’ve struggled and we’ve flourished.”

Hoffman then mentioned several of the ideas Leffler played an instrumental role in, such as:

• The “Birth” day tree to help support the organization’s memorial tree program with a “Birth” day tree in honor of a loved one. The vast majority of the group’s memorial trees are donated in memory of deceased loved ones.

• 150 trees planted during Lehighton’s Sesquicentennial celebration

• Upside down Christmas tree in the park with the slogan, “Lehighton’s Shade Tree Commission is turning the town upside down.”

Leffler shrugged off lighthearted attempts by council to coax him into staying on the commission.

“It was a pleasure,” Leffler said.

In a bittersweet moment, council then accepted Leffler’s resignation.

Afterward, Hoffman asked council to consider reworking its ordinance so that people who live outside the borough limits can serve on the shade tree commission.