Centre County Progress 2022

The Sentinel

Ag tourism enhanced by recognition program

BY JORDAN FORTSON Sentinel correspondent news@lewistownsentinel.com

As tourism is the No. 1 driver of business in Cen tre County, the region has a long storied and rich tra dition in agriculture busi nesses from apple orchards and tree farms, to family produce businesses and even craft beer breweries all aside from Penn State athletics and sports camps.

The picturesque moun tains slope downward to some of Pennsylvania’s most fertile soils that pro duce an amazing pletho ra of colorful flowers and crunch crisp fresh vegeta bles. These Happy Valley agricultural gems received renewed support in grow ing their businesses and attracting new visitors and enhancing the customer

experience and their facil ities with a grant from the Happy Valley Adventure and Tourism bureau along with the Chamber of Busi ness and Industry of Cen tre County.

As COVID-19 took a large toll on small to mid-size businesses, this grant in some cases may help busi nesses with their bottom line in being able to contin ue to operate.

“It’s a great feeling to know the projects being funded today will enhance agricultural offerings in the county and allow farms and ag-related businesses to grow their operations,” said Greg Scott, president and CEO of the CBICC.

Happy Valley Adven ture President and CEO Fritz Smith shared at the announcement of the ini tiative.

“Inviting visitors —

and local residents — to enjoy what we grow, craft and create is the mission of Happy Valley Agven tures,” Smith said. “The projects put forward will make it even more inviting to visit Happy Valley, and enjoy and appreciate our agricultural heritage.”

Twenty-eight regional agricultural businesses applied for grants and all received a portion of the amount awarded, which offered as much as $10,000 for individual grants. An additional $200,000 will be matched through private investment from within the county. Centre Coun ty has a unique variety of agricultural businesses offering a variety of rare specialties.

Bear Meadows Farms, one of the recipients, is one of the businesses licensed by the state that offers a

rarity, raw milk, which is growing in popularity. Goot Essa is a Amish team establishment that offers high quality specialty cheeses.

Leslie Zuck, owner of Common Ground Farm in Spring Mills, said the vi sion for the 80-acre diver sified farm is to share their family farming experience, including growing vege tables and flowers, land scaping with native plants, regenerative farming, and climate-smart agriculture.

“Upgrades made possi ble through this grant will help us provide safe and comfortable farm visits and educational opportunities for schools and organiza tions,” Zuck said. “We are firm believers in learning by doing, and really look forward to offering handson farming activities to farm and garden enthusi

asts, especially children and youth, Earth’s future stewards.”

Rimmey Road Farm owner Keith Brainard said the grant funding would “definitely allow” the farm to become a viable agritourism destination that can contribute to the county’s tourism economy.

Rimmey Road Farm raises heritage breed Mulefoot pigs on the grounds adja cent to Rhoneymeade.

Centre County Grange Fair will use its $9,000 grant for technology im provements to the live stock judging area.

“We at Centre County Grange Park/Centre Coun ty Grange Fair are very grateful and excited to be chosen as a recipient of the Happy Valley Agven ture Grant Program,” said Darlene Confer, General Manager of Grange Park/

Grange Fair.“ This grant will assist in providing technology enhancements, such as live streaming ca pabilities, for agricultural shows and events held at Grange Park.“ Agriculture and agri tourism are very integral parts of our facility and surrounding communi ties,” Confer continued. “With these grant monies, we hope to promote even more agribusiness in Cen tre County.

The criteria for being selected was a factor of ingenuity in agriculture business and in preserving businesses that have been in the region for a long time with a solid following of customers. The idea be hind the grant from Hap py Valley Adventure Bu reau is to further enhance

Submitted photo

Recipients of grants to promote agricultural tourism in Centre County.

What’s in a

Student athletes’ NIL guide

BY JORDAN FORTSON Sentinel correspondent news@lewistownsentinel.com

UNIVERSITY PARK — Innovation is nothing new at Penn State.

Nestled in the Happy Valley, with a thriving lo cal business community, the timing was right for the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County and Penn State to form a partnership with the advent of the NCAA’s enactment of NIL — Name, Image and Likeness — reversing a century-old policy forbidding college athletes from earning en dorsement money.

Amid the rule change, Penn State initially seemed to be caught flat-footed like many uni versities after the ruling change was made. How ever, Penn State is now a game changer in the NIL marketing world and a consultant for other uni versities in sharing what has been affective for Penn State nationally and inter nationally with the birth of Success With Honor.

The creation of Success With Honor in 2022 con sisting of a conglomerate of local business leaders and former Penn State athletes is a stewardship program for Nittany Lion student-athletes in the business world.

As an incubator con glomerate focused on find ing opportunities for Penn State athletes the program has put Penn State in the forefront of universities promoting their athletes.

With the newly forged part nership with the CBICC business opportunities are open in Happy Valley for former and current Penn State athletes alike, as well as international stu dent athletes.

With the birth of, Suc cess With Honor, a board was formed from former Penn State athletes includ ing Grant Amend (men’s lacrosse), Kelsey Amy (field hockey), Lavar Ar rington (football), Chris Belivaqua (wrestling), Todd Blackledge (football), Calvin Booth (men’s bas ketball), Ben Bouma (ice hockey), Megan Hodge

(women’s volleyball), Mi chael Robinson (football), Lisa Salters (women’s basketball), David Tay lor (wrestling), NASCAR Chief Financial Officer Susan Shandel and Linsey Shae of Penn State’s Don ald P. Bellisario College of Communications.

In the early stages the leadership of Success With Honor reached out to Jay Paterno, who helped further the success of the program.

“Success With Honor has given Penn State stu dent-athletes and Penn State University the abil ity to broaden their aca demic and athletic oppor tunities,” Paterno said.

“By extension the local business community bene fits from being a partner in these endeavors by build ing connections with these student athletes as they compete for and graduate from Penn State. There is something unique go ing on here, Success With Honor is doing things the Penn State way in nation al leadership in a rapidly changing college sports landscape.”

Adding to that is the fact that Penn State also has one of the largest alumni associations and business alumni in the nation.

The Chamber of Busi ness and Industry of Cen tre County has more than 700 business members and relationships that give Penn State student ath letes a pathway to begin strategically marketing themselves and to earn money. The CBICC offers tiered subscription lev els to businesses to work with Penn State athletes through Success With Honor.

Success With Honor has already formed 200 busi ness partnerships for Penn State athletes.

The partnership be tween CBICC and Success With Honor has already become immensely suc cessful with the entire Penn State 2022 NCAA national champion wres tling team getting an en dorsement deal as a team as well as individual sponsorships. Every Penn State athlete is eligible to take part in NIL and Suc cess With Honor is a guide and mentor partnership for Nittany Lion student athletes to help them find marketing avenues for the own personal branding to earn money while partic ipating in the sports that they love. International student athletes also are eligible to take part in NIL in their respective home countries — for example, current Penn State football player Johnathan Sunder land is to appear on a bill board in Canada with oth er Canadian professional sports figures.

Beyond making money for student athletes, Penn State’s own Name, Image and Likeness is represent ed more often through in dividual student talents can only help the univer sity with recruiting future talent as NIL is still an ex tension of the Penn State brand, now with more legs in areas across the region and in home areas of stu dent athletes. As an insti tution with such a storied athletic program history to build upon as young non-collegiate student athletes see the financial gains that are now made by current Penn State ath letes.

Grants

the customer experience, which can lead to growing product lines and increas ing new offerings to visi tors to the region as well as longtime customers.

State Sen. Jake Corman (R-Bellefonte) put a lot of effort into this grant to be a possibility for the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County to award these monies to these local agri culture businesses.

Happy Valley Agven tures is a joint agritourism initiative of The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and the Chamber of Busi ness & Industry of Centre County. For more infor mation about ag-related things to see and do in Cen tre County, visit www.hap pyvalleyagventures.com.

The Happy Valley Agventures grant recipi ents are:

• Bear Meadows Farm — $7,800 for additional paved parking spots, road widen ing and beautification

• Bee Tree Berry Farm — $8,600 for controlled out door storage for fresh fruits and vegetables

• Central PA Tasting Trail — $10,000 for two pro motional billboards in Cen tre and Mifflin counties

• Centre County Farm land Trust — $5,000 for the reprinting of three Farm Routes guides and program postcard

• Centre County Grange Fair — $9,000 for technol ogy improvements to the livestock judging area to attract different agricul ture shows

• Common Ground Farm — $9,500 infrastructure and resource improvements to be visitor ready

• Ferguson Township — $8,000 for infrastructure needs for Route 45 Get aways participants, Tour ist Oriented Directional (TOD) signage, banner dis plays

• Goot Essa — $9,800 for pavilions and an outdoor picnic area at the cheese shop

• Happy Valley Vineyard & Winery — $9,000 to ex pand the outdoor seating area, including a pergola, sail shade covers and pic nic benches

• Harner Farm — $4,100 for a parking lot and deck

• J.L. Farm and Cidery — $9,800 for a paved driveway and outdoor pavilions

• JNJP Holdings — $5,000 for stone signage for better driveway visibility

• Meyer Dairy Farms — $9,800 for the renovation/ enhancement of public re strooms

• Nittany Meadow Farm — $9,000 for construction to meet Pennsylvania De partment of Agriculture licensing requirements for goat dairy operations

• Nittany Meadow Farm — $2,000 for bus retrofitting to travel with goats to pro mote agricultural and edu cational opportunities

• Pasto Agricultural Mu seum — $8,000 for museum entrance enhancements,

including lighting and are tail shop

• Pine Grove Hall — $9,500 for parking lot ex pansion

• Pole Cat Hollow Farm — $5,500 for the conversion of a farm shed into an ag education area for visitors

• RE Farm Café at Wind swept — $9,800 for the addition of an outdoor, ground-level deck with canopy, seating, stairs and a fire pit

• Rhoneymeade — $8,800 for sound system, DJ equip ment, lighting and other needs to support Rhoney meade Fest

• Rimmey Road Farm — $8,500 for upgrades to the farm for retail space and events

• Rooted Farmstead — $9,000 for site enhance ments, point of sale equipment and the estab lishment of a peony garden

• Schaeffer Farm — $6,000 for a year-round farm stand, refrigeration/ freezers, parking enhance ments

• Scott’s Roasting — $8,000 for food truck vehicle wrapping of farm

• Seven Mountains Wine Cellars — $8,500 for a per manent outdoor food facil ity

• Sinking Creek Meats — $8,500 for the construction of retail space

• University Wine Com pany — $5,000 for enhance ments to the outdoor seat ing area

• Wasson Farm — $8,500 for facility expansion to increase production, meet customer demand for ice cream

MORE THAN ATHLETES

Penn Staters who served recognized in new museum exhibit

GREG WILLIAMS Sentinel reporter gwilliams@ lewistownsentinel.com

UNIVERSITY PARK –

The late Max S. Peters con sidered himself to be a true Penn Stater.

He was a proud Nittany Lion, lettering in both ski ing and track and field and graduating with a Penn State degree in 1941. He had a distinguished military career, serving his country with the rank of sergeant in the United States Army during World War II.

Amid the glory, Peters experienced internal and external struggles. On May 6, 1945, while fighting with the 10th Mountain Divi sion in Italy, he wrote to his Penn State faculty advi sor about the effects of the war.

An excerpt from the let ter: “Give everything you have, even your life if nec essary, so that others can continue where you left off back there — so that others can feel as you feel about democracy and life — if you don’t get home to carry the torch others will pick it up and carry it for you. All of these things I could have told myself, but it much simpler to express the whole thing by merely say ing, ‘I am a Penn Stater.’” In the letter, Peters de tailed his reasons for fight ing. After listing a variety of democratic ideals, he concluded by stating that it was simpler for him to tell himself “I Am a Penn Stater” as the term encap sulated everything he be lieved.

The Penn State AllSports Museum opened a new exhibit, “I Am a Penn Stater: Nittany Lions in World War II,” which re counts the contributions of Penn State lettermen and Women’s Recreation Asso ciation athletes, coincides with the 80th anniversary of U.S. involvement in the war. The title is taken from Peters’ letter.

Utilizing a variety of photography, letters, dia ries and artifacts, “I Am a Penn Stater” offers visitors a first-hand understanding of the service provided by more than 1,200 former Nittany Lions who entered the military and American Red Cross, Penn State ath letics said in a release.

Frank Gleason, wrestler

“I Am a Penn Stater” shares extraordinary sto ries including those of wrestler Frank A. Gleason, who served with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and whose adventures were the focus of a cine matic adaption.

At Penn State, Gleason captained the 1941 wres tling team and won the Eastern Intercollegiate ti tle at 136 pounds as a soph omore and finished third at the NCAA Tournament in his senior year. He had per haps the most captivating experience of all the com bat veterans.

“Frank went into the Army on his ROTC com mission by a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity brother reached out and recruited him into the OSS, the forerunner of the CIA,” said Ken Hick man, director of the muse um. “He served as a demo litions trainer in western Maryland for a year before going to China and fighting behind enemy lines, tasked with destroying bridges and railroads in the face of a Japanese advance.”

In November 1944, “Time” magazine reporter Theodore White, who au

thored books about presi dential elections from 1960 to 1980, started writing ar ticles about Gleason’s ex ploits in China.

“After the war, White wrote a non-fiction book about Gleason’s China campaign,” Hickman ex plained. “This, in turn pro vided the basis for White’s 1958 novel, ‘The Mountain Road’ with Gleason inspir ing the main character, Ma jor Baldwin.

“Two years later, ‘The Mountain Road’ was made into a feature film with fel low Pennsylvanian Jimmy Stewart, one-time war hero himself, in the starring role as Major Baldwin.”

When the OSS was dis solved in September 1945, Gleason went back to the Army Corps of Engineers. During the Korean War, he helped build anti-aircraft installations in Alaska and during Vietnam he was in charge of an Army supply installation at Cam Ranh Bay near the South China Sea.

Gleason retired as a full colonel in 1971. He and other OSS colleagues were awarded a Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of their World War II feats in 2018. He lived a long and fascinating life, passing away on Jan. 27, 2019.

Jack Reichenbach, basketball

There’s also the remark able story of basketball standout Jack Reichen bach, which Hickman con siders one of the “richest” collections.

After playing basketball at Penn State in the late 1930s, Reichenbach flew bombers for the U.S. 15th Air Force over Europe.

“Major Reichenbach took command of the 726th Bombardment Squadron in Italy in November 1944,” Hickman said. “During

a raid on an oil refinery in Austria in February, his B-24 was hit and the surviving crew members bailed out.”

Reichenbach and his crew were captured by Hungarians and turned over to the Germans. Al though he was Jewish, the Germans sent him to a prisoner of war camp near Nuremburg before moving him to another one in southeastern Bavaria. Amazingly, he found an other Penn State Beta Sig ma Rho fraternity brother there, and when the camp was liberated a short time later, one of the first offi cers to reach them was a second fraternity brother.

“Reichenbach left the Army Air Force as a lieu tenant colonel,” Hickman said. “His son has every thing — his father’s uni forms, decorations, a fair amount of correspondence and even a chunk of shrap nel from the shell that brought his father’s B-24 down.”

There are other tales worth telling, such as Emma Jane Foster, a State College native and civilian nurse with the Flying Ti gers in China; and wrestler Clair L. Hess, who jumped with the 101st Airborne Division on D-Day and en dured the frigid siege of Bastogne

Fallen Nittany Lions

In sharing these stories of those Nittany Lions who fought overseas, “I Am a Penn Stater” also recog nizes the supreme sacrifice made by 27 former letter men during World War II.

Hickman says relatives have offered photographs and correspondence, in cluding a “great set of let ters” from the family of David Savin Welsh, 1940 swimmer. Welsh was part

of an air crew on a bomb er and was killed when his plane collided with anoth er bomber during a mis sion over Germany.

There’s also Navy Cross recipient W. Garfield Thomas, who was killed while commanding a tur ret aboard the USS Boise; and soccer star Donald Megrail, who won a Silver Star in North Africa before his death.

Also, among the Nitta ny Lions lost during the war was boxer and Tus kegee Airman James W. Wright, who was killed in 1944 when the transport aboard which he was flying crashed off the South Caro lina coast.

“I think this will be a bigger draw than the World War I exhibit if only be cause our country had a much bigger role in the conflict,” Hickman said. “It

really is the United States’ big war — a big global con flict — and that’s been rein forced in film and pop cul ture. We all have relatives, parents, grandparents and friends who played some role.”

Opened in 2002, the Penn State All-Sports Museum is located at the southwest corner of Beaver Stadium and honors the achieve

ments of the men and women who have built the proud tradition of Penn State Intercollegiate Ath letics.

Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays. Admission is by suggested donation of $5 for adults and $3 for children, seniors and students.

Photo courtesy PENN STATE

Above, The Nittany Lions’ 1941 wrestling team. Frank Gleason is third from left in the front row. Below, basketball player Jack Reichenbach during his time in service.

Campaign recognizes hospitality workers

STATE COLLEGE —

The Happy Valley Adven ture Bureau launched a special campaign to sup port and appreciate Centre County’s hospitality in dustry employees.

“The hospitality in dustry was devastated by COVID, both financially and from a staffing per spective,” said bureau President and CEO Fritz Smith. “Given the chal lenges of the past few years, and those that re main for many of our es tablishments, the HVAB Board of Directors felt it was important to recog nize those who have cho sen hospitality as a career or who are working in the industry in some capacity, and let them know that the work they do matters.”

Smith said staffing re mains a concern for the in dustry, with employment still down by about 800 Happy Valley hospitality jobs from pre-pandemic levels. Staffing shortag es have resulted in some establishments limiting hours of operation or choosing to close on cer tain days of the week, among other operational changes.

The HVAB Board of Di rectors formed a Workforce Task Force to explore solu tions to help with ongoing labor shortages that are plaguing the hospitality industry.

The Task Force is chaired by Gary Hoover, who until recently served as the Executive Director of the Bellefonte Interval ley Area Chamber of Com merce. Hoover had a long career in workforce devel opment. He has agreed to stay on to helm the Task Force until its mission is completed.

Hoover said the Work force Task Force is explor ing ways to assist busi nesses vital to the local economy, and better high light the many attractive job and career track oppor tunities available within the hospitality industry.

“As the Task Force tackles the labor issue,

there is consensus that an over-arching positive messaging campaign was needed to recognize the contributions of hospital ity employees at all lev els, and emphasize their importance to the HVAB’s destination marketing mission, the visitation economy in particular,” Smith said.

“Tourism is an import ant driver of our local economy, and the visitor experience is everything in tourism,” he continued.

“As frontline ambassadors for our beautiful Happy Valley, PA, hospitality in dustry workers at all lev els ensure that residents and visitors alike have the best possible dining, lodging or entertainment experiences.

All positions are important to deliver ing that favorable experi ence.”

A key aspect of the Hap py Valley Hospitality cam paign is highlighting “Pro files in Hospitality” on the bureau website and other platforms.

“Many of those who work in hospitality will tell you it can be challeng ing industry, yes, but also a very rewarding one,” Smith said. “That message needs to resonate a bit more than it has. Our team has really enjoyed seeking out the great personalities working in our industry, why they have a passion for hospitality, how it has helped them grow person ally and professionally, and where their career path has taken them.”

Another component of the campaign is the devel opment and distribution of messaging directed to ward those visiting Happy Valley for leisure, sports and business travel.

“We want visitors to re member that when they frequent a favorite Happy Valley dining spot, or at tend an event or perfor mance, or stay at a hotel or B&B that there is a team of talented, dedicated em ployees working hard be hind the scenes to provide them with excellent ser

vice and great memories,” Smith said. “We want our visitors to appreciate our hospitality employees and what they have been through as much as we do.”

Happy Valley Hospi tality messaging will be included in the HVAB’s visitor guides and publi cations, and given to hotel guests, etc. The messaging will also direct visitors to the hospitality campaign web page - www.Happy Valley.com/hospitalitv — to learn more about those providing service during their stay in Centre Coun ty.

Smith said while the goal of the effort is to ap preciate hospitality em ployees, there is hope that the campaign will ulti mately encourage more people to consider hospi tality for a career, or fullor part-time general em ployment.

Lane closed for I-80 work

BELLEFONTE — As work on the local inter change/Route 26 project in Centre County continues, the PennDOT is providing a start of October update on the project.

The work zone is along I-80 near the Bellefonte/161 interchange and can affect traffic flow on Interstate 80 and Route 26.

Motorists should an ticipate the following this week:

Through Sunday, Oc tober 9, the through lane on I-80 eastbound will be closed around the clock. All traffic will use the cross over, with eastbound traffic proceeding in a single lane.

All lanes on I-80 west bound are shifted right. In this configuration, the shoulder functions as the travel lane and the travel lane as the passing lane. Crews will be engaged in slow-moving operations through today that will al ternate between the trav el and passing lane and could result in stopped and slowed traffic within the work zone.

PennDOT advises mo torists to stay alert for stopped and slowed traffic

conditions and allow extra travel time.

Route 26 is now in a long-term configuration with two 10-foot lanes open through the work zone. Work is occurring behind concrete barrier. PennDOT urges drivers to watch for temporary driveways and construction vehicles throughout the work zone.

All work is contingent on the weather.

Work scheduled through this season includes three miles of reconstruction on I-80 eastbound, building new ramps and a connector road, completing a bridge structure, and reconstruct ing and improving a sec tion of Route 26.

The I-80/Route 26 local interchange project is east of Bellefonte and is part of a long-awaited safety improvement in Centre County. HRI, Inc. of State College is the contractor on this $52 million project. Up-to-date information is available on the project page at www.penndot. pa.gov/jacksonvilleroad.

The local interchange project is the first phase of a three-phase project to build local access, a high-

speed interchange con nection between I-99 and I-80 and improve Jackson ville Road. In July 2018, the project was awarded an initial $35 million fed eral Infrastructure for Re building America (INFRA) grant. Completing all three phases will support the re gional freight economy and improve the reliability of roadway travel throughout the region.

Submitted photo

Hospitality workers were recognized at State College Spikes games this summer while the Happy Valley Adven ture Bureau was on hand to provide information about its recognition campaign.

Centre, Clinton counties will host triathlon

CHRIS MORELLI Special to The Sentinel

UNIVERSITY PARK —

With Beaver Stadium as a backdrop, an athletic com petition that will have a huge impact on Centre and Clinton counties was an nounced during a news con ference on Sept. 29.

The inaugural Ironman 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley Triathlon will debut on July 2, 2023, and take place annually through at least 2025. The 70.3-mile race will take athletes through several local landmarks in Centre and Clinton coun ties, including Bald Eagle State Park and Penn State’s University Park campus.

Fritz Smith, CEO of the Happy Valley Adven ture Bureau, made the an nouncement to a large gath ering of media just inside the Beaver Stadium tunnel.

“The Happy Valley Ad venture Bureau is signing a three-year commitment with Ironman,” Smith said, “and hopefully for many years thereafter. So, this is really one of the first great triumphs for the new ly-formed Happy Valley Sports and Entertainment Alliance.”

The Happy Valley Sports and Entertainment Alli ance was formed last fall. A new study, which was released earlier this week, estimated that sporting events in Centre County generate nearly $417 million each year.

The race will begin with a 1.2-mile swim in Foster Joseph Sayers Reservoir in Bald Eagle State Park, continuing with a 56-mile bike ride through Centre and Clinton counties. It will wrap up with a 13.1mile run throughout Penn State’s campus with a fin ish line at the 50-yard line at Beaver Stadium.

According to Smith, it be came clear during the plan ning stages that Clinton County would need to be a part of the event.

“We had to choose an ad joining county and we felt that the landscape in Clin ton County was probably the most favorable,” Smith said.

General registration for the race begins today. The Happy Valley Triathlon will serve as a qualifying event for the 2023 VinFast Ironman 70.3 World Cham pionship in Lahti, Finland.

While details for the event are still a work in progress, Smith said that the countdown is on.

“We are 269 days and counting until we kick it off. The real work starts now,” Smith said.

The Ironman Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world, annually hosting millions of participants in more than 50 countries across the globe since 1978. It introduced the Ironman 70.3 race series in 2005, of fering a shorter course than its traditional 140.6-mile competition.

“We are thrilled to bring the excitement of Ironman 70.3 racing to central Penn sylvania and beautiful Cen tre and Clinton counties,” said Drew Wolff, Regional Director for the Ironman Group. “With the long standing history that tri athlon has in in this region, we know our athletes will enjoy the stunning scen ery, beautiful weather and friendly community here in State College.”

According to Wolff, the event will be unlike any other that Centre and Clin ton counties have played host to.

“We will have thousands of athletes from around the country and across the globe come and race here because of how special this place is,” Wolff said. “We’re going to start by swimming 1.2 miles in the beautiful clean waters out at Bald Ea gle State Park, we’re going to cycle through some of the most beautiful countryside that you’ve ever seen as you pass through these vi brant townships in Clinton County and Centre County and then we’ll arrive back here on Penn State’s cam pus, where they’ll run 13.1 miles. Then, they’re going to finish right here on the 50-yard line. If that doesn’t give you goosebumps, my goodness.”

Centre County commis

sioner Mark Higgins, who serves on the board of the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, talked about its track record of success.

“I’ve watched the trans formation of that orga nization into a team that competes — and now wins — international opportuni ties,” Higgins said.

Higgins talked about the impact that the Ironman will have on tourism in Centre County — and be yond.

“(A total of) 3,000 people, three years in a row. That is massive for this region, especially on a weekend when things tend to be a lit tle slow,” Higgins said. “I’m very happy about this and it was exciting when Dave Gerdes (Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Adventure Bureau) in formed the board that the Ironman group was even considering this event. They’re the largest opera tor of mass participation sports in the entire world.”

Needless to say, those in volved with Ironman will be traveling into Centre and Clinton counties, book ing hotel rooms, eating at restaurants and pumping money into the local econ omy.

Centre and Clinton counties will be on display during the event.

“This is a tremendous op portunity to show the entire world what’s available for active adults here in Centre County. Any sport you can think of, we’ve got it,” Hig gins said.

He’s hopeful that those taking part will enjoy their time in the Centre Region.

“Come early, train, enjoy yourself and then stay af terwards and have a lot of fun,” Higgins said.

For more information about the 2023 Ironman 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley Triathlon, visit www.iron man.com/im703-pennsyl vania. General information about Ironman races is avail able at www.ironman.com.

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Sentinel photo by TIM WEIGHT

Happy Valley Adventure Bureau CEO Fritz Smith an nounced that the Ironman 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Val ley Triathlon will be taking place in Centre and Clinton counties on July 2, 2023.

STATE COLLEGE —

Mount Nittany Health is one of the largest medi cal services groups in the region, with 17 locations throughout the area, in cluding in Reedsville, Mif flin County, in addition to their Centre County facilities. In 2022, Mount Nittany Health added a number of service areas or expanded programs to meet the growing medical needs of the region.

Eight new primary care providers were add ed throughout the health system so far this year, as well as a new Pediat ric Psychologist, Shan non Manley Ph.D., at the Boalsburg location. Ac cording to a press release, Mount Nittany Health identified the need for be havioral health services as a priority in its 2019 Community Needs Health Assessment.

“My professional inter est in improving access to mental healthcare for fam ilies in underserved com munities aligns well with Mount Nittany Health’s priorities,” Dr. Manley said in the release.

Mount Nittany Health also opened a dedicated rheumatology practice in October on Greentech Drive in State College.

More than 1,300 infants are born in the Mount Nittany Health system annually according to the Mount Nittany Health website, so the expansion and modernization of the Joseph V. and Suzanne P. Paterno Women and Children’s Services Unit in March represented a significant update for the campus. The unit is lo cated at Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College.

As the largest unit of its kind in the region, the new Women and Chil dren’s Services Unit in cludes six new labor and delivery rooms, two triage rooms, an advanced tech

nology surgical suite, and Level I and Level II nurs eries.

In 2023, plans are in works for a newly de signed Diagnostic Pa vilion for an enhanced patient experience. The modernization of the fa cility will take place in phases over the next two years. The updates in clude a new 3 Tesla MRI, which would be the only one in the area. The 3 Tes la MRI is designed to re duce a patient’s MRI time by 40%. According to cancer.gov, these types of machines have a stronger magnet and make better images of organs and soft tissue that other MRI ma chines. Additionally, up grades are planned to the facility’s CT scanners.

Mount Nittany Health is also planning a state-ofthe-art outpatient medical center in Toftrees West. As part of ongoing sys tem-wide facility invest ments, the outpatient cen ter will provide greater access to a range of outpa tient healthcare services in a single location.

The facility will be part of the planned 700-acre

multi-use Toftrees West development in Patton Township, Centre County. Work continues to finalize the range of services and overall size of the facili ty, which is anticipated to open in late 2023. Health system leaders noted that a significant reason for developing the center is to create needed expan sion capacity for Mount Nittany Health’s 200+ provider group, which has outgrown its current loca tions.

Precision is vital when it comes to surgery and robotic-assisted surgery has become a tool is en abling surgeons to be pre

cise. Surgeons at Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College performed the first robotic-assist ed surgery in the region. The program had five surgeons who performed procedures in two special ty fields, urology and gy necology. Mount Nittany Health now performs pro cedures in three special ties, urology, gynecology and general surgery, and have a total of fifteen sur geons performing robotic

surgeries. Recently, Mount Nit tany Medical Center re ceived the highest rating in the Five-Star Quality Rating System. For the fourth consecutive report ing period, Mount Nittany Medical Center has been

recognized with a 5-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Five-Star Quality Rating System. This is the highest rating given by the CMS. The av erage rating nationally is 3 out of 5 stars.