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IAN CAMPBELL Times Leader Correspondent

NUANGOLA – A year ago at the start of the borough’s centennial celebrations, it was cold and damp, and the Scouts shivered as they put the Nuangola flag up the flagpole in front of the building.

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Mayor Norman Rule, left, Cameron Chalk of Boy Scout Pack 60, state Sen. Lisa Baker, Jordan Tucker, state Rep. Karen Boback, Brianna Phillips and Regina Plodwick, borough council president, at the Nuangola centennial closing ceremony.

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A day short of the 101st anniversary of the borough’s founding, and the formal end of the centennial year, the weather could not have been more different.

As the borough flag was exchanged for a state flag, presented during the closing ceremony Sunday by state Sen. Lisa Baker, the sky was blue and the weather balmy. Sweaters and shirtsleeves replaced the coats of last year.

The ceremony Sunday was a brief one, in front of about two dozen residents, effectively to formally close the yearlong event and to thank the people who had been so completely involved in putting it together.

In addition to Baker, the gathering also heard from state Rep. Karen Boback, who had managed to attend all three of the borough’s centennial events, and who said she had been delighted to have been part of such a cohesive group; and Christine Dixon from the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs.

In introducing Dixon, council President Regina Plodwick noted the PSAB was the most important resource any borough in the state can have, and PSAB staff help had become a key part of the borough’s existence.

Dixon talked about the events that had taken place during the same period 100 years earlier, as the borough was moving through its first year of life.

Her list included polar expeditions and gold discoveries in Ontario, Canada, as well as the occasion of the first woman to drive across the United States and the creation of the world’s first airline.

But the people who got the most attention during Sunday’s event were the people who had made it happen, Plodwick noted.

During the course of the year, people such as Shari Andes, Marcia Thomas, Raymonde Stets, Linda Meshinski, Teresa Anthony, Frederick Adams, David Pekar and David Stout organized events, from selling bricks and sweatshirts to putting together the summer parade.

Without their work, the borough would not have had an event worth celebrating, Plodwick said.

Those who contributed to various projects, such as the art competition held earlier in the year, would find their efforts placed in a time capsule that will be placed in the future, once funds have been secured.

Baker, Boback and Dixon were invited to participate in the lighting of the municipal tree, which was planted last year, and in the intervening months has almost doubled in height. They also joined in the singing of “God Bless America,” led by student Brianna Phillips after the raising of the state flag by Pack 60 Boy Scout Cameron Chalk and Rice Elementary student Jordan Tucker.