With Harmony's bicentennial celebration slated for summer, officials are working to spruce up the town.

Mayor Cathy Rape said the borough recently installed four decorative benches and a handful of new trash cans. She said officials soon hope to replace three light poles near the Harmony triangle with taller ones so that new 'Welcome to Harmony' banners can be hung.

Rape said she's working with the Zelienople-Harmony Area Chamber of Commerce to buy more benches if donations continue.

The bench project sprouted from a similar one completed in Zelienople in 2001 in which about 20 benches were bought and placed throughout the town.

Residents and business owners can contribute toward the benches or get a memorial plaque installed on them for donating the entire $1,100 purchase price. The benches in Zelienople were bought under a similar system, Rape said.

Marnie Repasky, executive director of the chamber, said Zelienople businessman Bob Householder is leading the campaign to solicit donations, much as he did for Zelienople.

"This project is a good way for the chamber to represent the communities we are supposed to represent," Repasky said. "And we can help them with their revitalization."

Repasky said the metal benches are made by Keystone Ridge Designs, of Butler.

One difference between the benches in Zelienople and those in Harmony is color.

Zelienople opted for a terra cotta shade to compliment the buildings on Main Street while, Rape said, Harmony chose black ones to match the new light poles.

Rape said Harmony first replaced the four wooden benches around the town diamond at Mercer and Main streets.

Other locations for benches, which she hopes to have in place by July, will be picked later, Rape said.

Repasky said Zelienople residents also will see work on the facade of the Strand Theater begin this summer.

Ron Carter, president of the Strand Theater Initiative, is working to restore the 88-year-old Main Street building.

Anyone interested in contributing to the bench project in Harmony can send a donation to the chamber of commerce, P.O. Box 464, Zelienople PA 16063. Repasky said donors should note what the contribution is for on the check.