During the Monroe County commissioners’ meeting on Wednesday, people were encouraged to get involved in the America250 initiative.

Commissioner David Parker told the other two commissioners that he went to the kickoff meeting on Jan. 9 at Northampton Community College — Monroe Campus for the event, and it was well attended.

“We want to get the whole community involved in this celebration,” he said.

Parker said there are eight committees listed in the brochures. People can sign up for one of those committees or tell the organizers about their ideas.

“If you have ideas for other committees or you know of things that you’d like to do to celebrate, bring them to us and we’ll help you organize and promote,” Parker said.

Parker also said that an ice harvest is being planned for the end of the month in Tobyhanna.

“That’s one of the historical industries of our area,” he said. “The ice industry was very big here until refrigeration put it out of business, but it’s a neat experience to go up there.”

During its commercial days, the ice used to be sent to New York, Philadelphia and throughout the northeast, Parker said.

The Annual Tobyhanna Millpond #1 Ice Harvest will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 25. According to the event’s Facebook page, it is a free event organized by the Leonard and Saxe families with financial support from the Coolbaugh Township Historical Association.

“As long as it’s cold enough, they hope to have it again this year. I wanted to put that out to the committee to help promote that event, and get everybody up there to see what they used to do years ago,” Parker said.

Updates on ice conditions will be available on its Facebook page called Tobyhanna Ice Harvest, or by calling the Ice Harvest Hotline at 570-894-8205.