ALLENTOWN., Pa. – Allentown City Council voted Wednesday night to dedicate the 500 block of Hickory Street to city-league basketball legend Jerry Christian.
The block will now be known as Jerry Christian Way.
City resident Al Blount called Christian his mentor.
“I want to thank the council for taking this up,” Blount said. “I believe Jerry is so deserving of this.”
“His DNA may be in the hundreds of men now because of all the lives that he touched, starting at Valania Park, moving on to Cumberland Gardens Community Center,” he said. “There, he was the director of the housing project.”
“He was and is such a giving caring kind man who played semi-pro basketball,” Blount said.
Christian played for a semi-pro basketball team known as the Allentown Jets.
Another resident said Christian is responsible for mentoring countless young men and leading them in the right direction, which kept them on the right path and out of prison.