A Lehigh University sign along Mountain Drive South directs traffic to Stabler Arena on the school’s Goodman Campus. Nearly a dozen local high school graduation ceremonies will be held at the arena this June.
If you have lived or worked in the Saucon Valley area for any length of time, you probably know by now that every year many Lehigh Valley high schools hold graduation ceremonies at Lehigh University’s Stabler Arena.
The ceremonies are attended by thousands of people and typically cause congestion on local roads near Lehigh’s Goodman Campus, which borders Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township.
To help ease the congestion, township police are stationed at key intersections near the arena, where they assist with traffic control by manually operating the traffic lights.
Some of the Saucon Valley roads that frequently become clogged with traffic before and after the graduation ceremonies are Water Street/Friedensville Road, Bingen Road, Black River Road, Seidersville Road and Mountain Drive North at Rt. 378.
Residents can also do their part to help alleviate congestion (and avoid getting stuck in traffic themselves) by studying the 2019 schedule of graduation ceremonies that will be held at Stabler Arena, which turns 40 years old on May 29.
A total of 10 ceremonies will be held between June 1 and June 14. They are:
- Saturday, June 1, 9 a.m., Northampton Area High School
- Saturday, June 1, 7 p.m., Northwestern Lehigh High School
- Monday, June 3, 5-9 p.m., Whitehall High School
- Tuesday, June 4, 4-8:30 p.m., Easton Area High School
- Wednesday, June 5, 5-9 p.m., Liberty High School
- Thursday, June 6, 5-9 p.m., Freedom High School
- Friday, June 7, 4:30-8:30 p.m., Southern Lehigh High School
- Monday, June 10, 4:30-8:30 p.m., Nazareth Area High School
- Wednesday, June 13, 4-8 p.m., Pennridge High School
- Thursday, June 14, 5-9 p.m., Quakertown Community High School
Saucon Valley High School holds its graduation exercises in the high school auditorium, and this year’s Class of 2019 will graduate there on Friday, June 7 at 7 p.m.
Stabler Arena opened on May 29, 1979, and was the largest indoor sports and entertainment venue in the Lehigh Valley area for decades. According to the Lehigh Athletics website, the all-time record for attendance at the arena was set on April 15, 1984, when more than 6,700 people attended a John Denver concert there.