August Town&Gown 2017

AUGUST 2017

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Family

Heirlooms For Barrie Moser, prize produce is a labor of love

Inside: Cultivating potential at Taproot Kitchen • Nonprofits of Centre County

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2017 August T&G - 1

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features

30 / Cultivating Potential Taproot Kitchen works toward a catering business for people with intellectual disabilities • by Holly Riddle

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40 / Building a School Community The new State High, set to debut in January, is about more than gleaming structures and 21st-century technology • by James Turchick

50 / Home at the Grange Organizing 'the fair with all the tents’ is one massive endeavor • by Sean Yoder

Special Advertising Section

61 / Nonprofits of Centre County

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A look at some of the special organizations that help embody Happy Valley spirit On the cover: Barrie Moser, of Moser’s Garden Produce, in a high tunnel on his Centre Hall farm.

Photo by Darren Andrew Weimert.

50 Town&Gown is published monthly by Barash Publications, 403 South Allen Street, State College, PA 16801. Advertising is subject to approval of the publisher. COPYRIGHT 2017 by Barash Media. All rights reserved.

Send address changes to Town&Gown, 403 S. Allen St., State College, PA 16801. No part of this magazine may be reproduced by any process except with written authorization from Town&Gown or its publisher.

Phone: 800-326-9584, 814-238-5051. FAX: 814-238-3415. Printed by Gazette Printers, Indiana, PA. 20,000 copies published this month, available FREE in retail stores, restaurants, hotels and motels & travel depots. SUBSCRIPTIONS and SINGLE COPIES: $45/1yr; current issue by 1st‑class mail, $10; back copy, $15 mailed, $12 picked up at the T&G office. townandgown.com

2017 August T&G - 5

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departments

10 Letter from The Editor 12 Starting Off: The List, People in the Community, Q&A

20 Living Well: Pursuing your gifts, talents, and dreams brings a life of purpose • by Meghan Fritz 22 Health: Intense Pulsed Light and laser services can be effective treatment for cosmetic concerns • by Emily Peterson, MD 24 About Town: Another new chapter is in store for the old Buckhout mansion site on East Beaver Avenue • by Nadine Kofman 26 On Center: Mexican American Lila Downs tells impassioned stories through song • by John Mark Rafacz

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122 28 Penn State Diary: With the fate of the Beta Theta Pi house in limbo, suggestions include a university museum • by Lee Stout 91

What’s Happening: The 143rd annual Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair takes center stage, but August features plenty more.

100 On Tap: The State College Brew Expo highlights the ever-growing variety of craft beers • by David Pencek 102 Taste of the Month/Dining Out: For ‘Tomato Man’ Barrie Moser, heirlooms are a labor of love • by Vilma Shu Danz 116 Lunch with Mimi: Discovery Space Executive Director Michele Crowl aims to bring STEM learning to the next level 121 This Month on WPSU 122 Artist of the Month: Leaving her medical practice behind, Alice Kelsey answers a call to visual art-making • by Courtney DeVita 124

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Snapshot: The Phyrst, a Saturday night staple for countless Penn Staters, celebrates its 50th birthday with a party and a documentary • by James Turchick

Celebrating Our 90 th Year

Town&Gown August

A State College & Penn State tradition since 1966.

Publisher Rob Schmidt Founder Mimi Barash Coppersmith Editorial Director Mark Brackenbury Creative Director Tiara Snare PLUMBING • HEATING • AIR CONDITIONING HEAT PUMPS • SPRINKLER SYSTEMS • MEDICAL GAS

Serving the Centre Region since 1927 814.355.4841 www.josephhazelinc.com HIC# PA 012698

Bellefone Arts & CrAfts fAir

Operations Manager/Assistant Editor Vilma Shu Danz Art Director/Photographer Darren Weimert Staff Writer Sean Yoder Graphic Designer Cody Peachey Ad Coordinator Lana Bernhard Account Executive Nicohl Geszvain, Debbie Markel Business Manager Aimee Aiello

When:

August 11th from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and August 12th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where:

Contributing Editor David Pencek Interns Tommy Butler, James Turchick, Courtney DeVita (editorial), Tanner Lockett (graphics) Distribution Handy Delivery

Talleyrand Park, Bellefonte, PA

Features:

The Annual Bellefonte Arts and Crafts Festival transforms the scenic park into a fun arts and crafts haven for everyone. Enjoy arts, crafts and more from talented artists and crafters from near and far. Bring along the kids for numerous fun activities and games that will be sure to make memories. Also, don’t forget to save room for supper. With countless delectable delights from the area’s finest concessionaires, no one will leave hungry!

www.bellefontechamber.org

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To contact us: Mail: 403 S. Allen St., State College, PA 16801 Phone: (814) 238-5051, (800) 326-9584 Fax: (814) 238-3415 mbrackenbury@barashmedia.com (Editorial) rschmidt@barashmedia.com (Advertising) We welcome letters to the editor that include a phone number for verification.

Back issues of Town&Gown are available on microfilm at Penn State’s Pattee Library.

Facebook.com/townandgownsc @TownGownSC townandgown.com

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letter from the editor

Old School No Longer When I was in high school in the mid1970s, schoolmates and I were fortunate to attend most classes in a new, state-of-theart building.

State-of-the-art at that time in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, meant an open-floor concept in which most classrooms were separated only by movable partitions.

If a student and a teacher in an adjoining class were having a bad day, the whole building knew it.

It was a building, I recall (and recalling gets more challenging by the day!), with lots of cement and not a whole lot of windows. If a class was in the interior of the big space, there were no windows at all.

Still, everything was clean, and fresh, and new, so all in all it seemed pretty nice.

I was thinking about my school when two Town&Gown colleagues and I recently got a tour of the new State High under construction on Westerly Parkway.

When a portion of the new South Building opens in January, it will have all the amenities you’d expect in a new school — air conditioning, the latest technology, plenty of classroom, office, and gathering space.

But then there are the windows. Lots and lots of them, floor-to-ceiling in some places. Views from the upper floors will offer impressive vistas of State College and beyond.

While students and staff may find inspiration in great views and warm sunshine illuminating open spaces, the school will have to be about much more than that, and educators are confident it will be.

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As James Turchick reports inside, the new design is meant to foster an effective educational environment by, in effect, creating learning communities within a community.

Also in this issue, Sean Yoder takes you behind the scenes of all the work that goes into planning the Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair.

If your family doesn’t already have a tent at the fair and you’d like one, well, you’ll need to stick around a while.

Holly Riddle offers an update on a truly inspiring group of young adults and their mentors at Taproot Kitchen. If you haven’t had a chance to try one of their meals, you’re missing out. But you may have more opportunity moving forward.

Our cover this month celebrates the green thumb of Barrie Moser — the “Tomato Man” — of Moser’s Garden Produce. Moser and his wife, Mandy, grow some renowned heirloom vegetables on their farm in Centre Hall. It’s a labor of love, and you can read about it in Vilma Shu Danz’s Taste of the Month feature inside.

Mark Brackenbury Editorial Director mbrackenbury@barashmedia.com

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starting off Speaking of presidents, August 9 is the 43rd anniversary of Richard Nixon’s resignation.

The List What to know about August August has the highest birth rate of any month in the United States.

Which brings us to the fact that August is Romance Awareness Month.

Five US presidents were among those August babies: Benjamin Harrison (1833), Herbert Hoover (1874), Lyndon Johnson (1908), Bill Clinton (1946), and Barack Obama (1961).

Hoover, Clinton and Obama have something else in common: they are (or were) left-handed. They’ll no doubt be among those celebrated on August 13, International Lefthanders Day. Other famous lefties include Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Jerry Seinfeld, and five more presidents: James A. Garfield, Harry S. Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush.

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In addition to presidents, August also evokes thoughts of a King — Martin Luther King Jr. MLK delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech

during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963.

(King, by the way, spoke at Penn State’s Rec Hall in January 1965, a speech to be commemorated at the under-construction MLK Plaza at Beaver Avenue and Fraser Street in State College.)

Of course, in Centre County no discussion of August milestones would be complete without mentioning the Grange Fair. The 143rd annual edition runs August 18-26 in Centre Hall. No presidents or kings are expected to attend, but there will no doubt be more than a few babies and lefties on hand to enjoy the festivities. T&G

People in the Community Katie Schreckengast

A senior-to-be studying broadcast journalism at Penn State, Katie Schreckengast was recently crowned Miss Pennsylvania.

Schreckengast, 20, of Palmyra, plays alto saxophone in the Blue Band and serves as its public relations officer. She is one of the band’s tunnel leads at Penn State home games.

Schreckengast, who was named Miss Central Pennsylvania in January, travels the state speaking about her adoption story and her platform, “Building Families Through Adoption.” She has raised more than $15,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network over the past seven years, according to the Miss Pennsylvania organization.

She will represent Pennsylvania in the Miss America Pageant in September.

Kaden Clark

Kaden Clark helped the Bellefonte Little League All Stars into the Pennsylvania Little League Section 4 Tournament in July, just six months after being diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Kaden underwent surgery in which the tumor, which proved to be non-malignant, was removed.

“Back in January, I could not see myself here (playing) now,” he told the Centre County Gazette.

After the operation, Kaden was faced with a long rehabilitation process.

“I had to take six weeks off from doing anything, but luckily games didn’t start for eight or nine weeks. So, I stayed off those weeks and then I started going to practice.

“People were shocked because I was just the same kid. They were expecting like a drastic change, but I came in not even thinking about it.”

Kaden played third base for the Bellefonte All Stars, who won the district championship before falling in the sectionals.

Nick Raquet

State College Area High School Class of 2014 alumnus Nick Raquet got off to a promising start in his professional baseball career.

Raquet, a left-handed pitcher, was a third-round pick of the Washington Nationals in the June Major League Baseball draft.

He starred at the College of William and Mary after graduating from State High.

Raquet even had a quick homecoming in early July when his team, the Auburn Doubledays, played the State College Spikes at Medlar Field (he didn’t pitch). The Doubledays were due back in Happy Valley July 31 and August 1, and again September 4-5.

Raquet credits former trainer and current State High coach Troy Allen with helping him get this far.

“I can’t say enough good things about him,” says Raquet. “He’s definitely the main reason I’m the player and the person I am today from a baseball standpoint.” T&G 14 - 2017 August T&G

Q&A with Jeff Steiner, executive director of the Dads’ Resource Center

By Mark Brackenbury Jeff Steiner, new executive director of the Dads’ Resource Center, says his own experience growing up makes him “a pretty good match” for the position.

Steiner was born to a single mother and has never met his father.

“It affected the arc of my life,” he says. “On a personal level, I know what it’s like to have grown up without a father.”

The Dads’ Resource Center aims to help responsible fathers in separated family systems participate in their children’s lives.

Steiner, who is married with two children, has been working to get the virtual center up and running since being named to the post in January. The center’s website — dadsrc.org —was due to launch in recent days.

Steiner’s first career involved working in direct services for children and families, including at Family Intervention and Crisis Services in Centre County. He then served as executive director of the Bellefonte Family Resource Center and later Kicks 4 Kids Charity Soccer Tournaments.

The Dads’ Resource Center was chartered as a 501(c)(3) organization about two years ago by AccuWeather founder Joel Myers, who recognized there was a void for fathers in separated family situations. Myers brought Steiner on board to help bring the organization to life.

While there are a lot of helpful resources available for mothers, “there’s not much, if anything, out there for fathers,” Steiner says.

T&G: What have you been focusing on since starting in January?

Steiner: Helping to format the underlying structure of the organization and developing the website. The website will be the storefront that people go to to find out about the organization, but it’s also going to functionally be the actual resource center where we’re going to provide the information and be that gathering point that folks come to who have some sort of an interest in this — the single fathers, the people within the legal, human services, and county systems that work with and deal with single fathers.

T&G: What is your primary goal for the resource center?

Steiner: The mission of the organization is to provide education, resources, and advocacy for fathers in separated systems. ERA – that’s the acronym. There’s a lot going on when you have the breakup of a nuclear family, and it can really throw everyone upside down. We want to be able to help fathers understand what’s coming, to be able to know 16 - T&G August 2017

Jeff Steiner, executive director of the Dads’ Resource Center, says the center “in our heart” is a children’s advocacy organization.

the processes that pretty much every family goes through, and also understand what’s coming if you get involved with the system.

We want to provide a voice for fathers. We’re looking to fill that void and have a seat at the table. There are a lot of different organizations and groups in Centre County – we’re looking to engage effectively, to be a member of those communities.

T&G: How do you advocate for fathers?

Steiner: We want to build a community for single fathers where they can come and share their stories and ask for advice for one another, to create their own support system. If fathers can have a community where they can say, “I’m new to this, I’m going through this,” and there may be some fathers out there who have been through it and say, “This has been my experience, I can tell you mistakes that I made,” they can help provide their own community and support for themselves.

At the same time, we’re looking to have a seat at the table within the

legal – as much as what we can — the county, and the human services systems to be able to provide a voice to speak on behalf of fathers.

There are fathers’ rights groups out there and I think a lot of people in the system recognize that there’s a void and the choice could be between a less productive, more antagonistic fathers’ rights group, and an organization like ourselves.

What we’re looking to do is help fathers who in their bones know that sacred responsibility of fatherhood, and want to fully participate as fathers on all levels – financially, respectfully coparenting, and spending time with their children and being role models for their children. Those are the fathers that we’re looking to help out.

T&G: What has been the response so far?

Steiner: It’s going to take a little bit of time to be able to develop a community of fathers. Just to have the awareness — people are busy, and guys are guys to a certain extent. So that’s going to take some time.

Within the legal, county, and human services fields in Centre County there’s been a very positive response. Almost universally everyone sees that fathers need this.

T&G: Where would you hope to be with the resource center a few years from now?

Steiner: The primary need is that initial entrance into the system, being able to provide fathers with the support that they need because once you make that initial mistake or have a difficult entrance into the system at the beginning, it can snowball. We want to be able to have the resources to help fathers at the entrance into the system.

In our heart we’re a children’s advocacy organization because we recognize – the statistics are there – children do better when they have equal participation with the parents in their lives. We just want to make sure that every child in their circumstances have the connection to both parents that’s appropriate for them so that they can best develop and have the best chance of being successful. T&G To view resources available through the Dads’ Resource Center, visit dadsrc.org, or facebook.com/dadsrc.org.

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2017 August T&G - 17

This Monthtownandgown.com On

• In 5 Questions, Bob Swaim discusses his collection of bicycles on display as the HUB-Robeson Galleries at Penn State hosts The Art & History of Bicycles through September 7.

• See “Tomato Man” Barrie Moser’s recipe for tomato dumplings.

• Order your copy of Town&Gown’s 2017 Penn State Football Annual.

And more!

Visit our Facebook site for the latest happenings and opportunities to win free tickets to concerts and events!

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @TownGownSC.

18 - T&G August 2017

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living well

Live Inspired!

Pursuing your gifts, talents, and dreams brings a life of purpose

By Meghan Fritz

I remember the day well. The sultry summer breeze was giving way to the cool, crisp evening air announcing the arrival of back to school. My friends and I played our last game of Marco Polo with a sense of sadness as we prepared for the first day of eighth grade. My mom sat me down at the kitchen table and told me there was something she wanted to discuss with me. I did a mental check, praying I did not leave another wet towel on the bed.

“Now that you and your siblings are older, I have decided to pursue my dream of getting a master’s. I am going back to school to get my master’s in social work and start a career in the counseling field.” My first egocentric, self-absorbed adolescent thought was, “Does this mean I have to make my own lunch?”

Looking back on that day I realize that my mother’s decision to pursue her dream set the stage for a life-long lesson that I would always honor. Always pursue your dreams and goals!

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What dreams do you have in your heart? A great invention?

Owning your own business?

Learning how to play the accordion? Joining the circus?

Whatever the dream is, do not bury it for a life of mediocrity.

No matter what age or season you are in your life it is NEVER too late to pursue the desires of your heart. A life of practicality will suck the joy, inspiration, and sparkle out of your life quicker than you can blink.

Each one of us has unique gifts and talents that we were meant to use to bring inspiration to

our lives and the lives of others. When we fail to cultivate our creativity and ideas we become stale, bored, and depressed. This puts us at risk for looking outside of ourselves to find happiness and makes us vulnerable to overeating, drinking, drug use, over-spending, and toxic relationships.

When you take the time to pursue your dreams, something begins to happen in your heart. You walk taller, become more confident, joyful, and light-hearted. You feel motivated and inspired because you are living a life of purpose and pursuing your gifts and talents.

You start inspiring others and live each day with more meaning. You attract the right people and resources into your life and become a magnet for prosperity.

Stop making excuses for why you have to stay in a job you hate, and build a career that you love. We often make excuses as to why we can’t pursue our dreams because we are afraid of failure.

Dear friends, the only failure is never having the courage to pursue the desires of your heart.

It took my mother five years as a part-time student to complete her master’s degree. She went on to build a flourishing counseling practice and a career that brings her joy and a sense of accomplishment. I will never forget the smile on her face and the pride my family felt as she walked across the stage at the age of 53 to get her graduate diploma. Her courage and determination ultimately led me to choose the same profession and be fearless in the pursuit of my dreams. I believe we have a responsibility to pass the baton to the next generation so that they too will be fearless in living a life of inspiration.

Don’t wait another day to begin to honor your dreams and goals. Make a commitment to live an inspired life.

You are worth it! T&G Meghan Fritz is a psychotherapist practicing in State College.

Rediscover Our Winery

On Mount Nittany

Tues. - Fri. 11- 5pm, Sat. 10 -5pm, Sun. 12- 5pm 300 Houser Rd., Centre Hall, 16828 (7 miles from Penn State) www. mtnittanywinery.com • 814. 466. 6373 • Free Wine Tasting • Tours by Appt.

2017 August T&G - 21

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health

Looking, Feeling Your Best IPL and laser services can be effective treatment for cosmetic concerns

By Emily Peterson, MD Cosmetic services have gained a lot of popularity over the last several years. In the United States alone, more than $13.5 billion was spent on cosmetic procedures last year. Turning on the television or scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed, it’s not uncommon to see celebrities promoting the next best thing. With each service, cream, or tool promising to be a miracle worker, it can be hard to sort through the best options for looking and feeling your best.

In my plastic and reconstructive surgery experience, the most common cosmetic anxieties my team sees are typically concerns regarding fine lines and wrinkles, facial spider veins, brown “age spots,” unwanted hair, and

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Emily Peterson

the like. And it’s not just women who have these cosmetic concerns either. In fact, men accounted for 1.3 million total cosmetic procedures last year.

Today, many of my colleagues in this field (myself included) are treating these types of conditions with one of two tools that you might not be familiar with. The first is a laser, and the second is known as Intense Pulsed Light, often abbreviated IPL. IPL and laser services are similar in some respects, but physicians may choose to recommend one service over another. This decision is based on a number of factors including the type of condition you want to treat, your skin type, and even your lifestyle.

To speak generally, IPL uses multiple lengths of light rays to treat various skin problems. It

Laser treatments remove outer layers of damaged skin and stimulate collagen production.

operates on a wider range of wavelengths with varying intensity, allowing it to treat more than just one type of skin condition.

On the other hand, a laser uses one continuous light wavelength and is typically stronger than IPL. The laser removes outer layers of damaged skin and stimulates collagen production.

While both treatment options are safe and effective, your physician will have experience in judging which service has the best chance for a successful treatment.

In terms of setting, both the IPL and laser services are performed on an outpatient basis.

Patients typically feel minimal discomfort from the procedures, and depending on the type of condition being treated, the appointment may only take a few minutes.

Some conditions require as few as two or three treatments to see noticeable results.

After deciding to explore treatment options for one or more of the common cosmetic conditions, a physician will typically schedule a consultation visit and skin examination as the first step. At that time, the provider will be able to determine if the IPL or laser treatment will be most effective for you.

Also during your consultation, the physician will likely be able to give an estimate as to how many treatments will be needed to achieve the desired results. Questions or concerns about the treatment plan can also be addressed at this

time. Because cosmetic services are very personalized to each patient, what’s worked for a friend or relative of yours might not be right for you, and vice versa.

While it’s always a good idea to be proactive in your care and to learn about the different types of services a provider offers — through reputable resources like the American Society of Plastic Surgeons — you should remember that physicians have the education, skills, and tools to recommend the product or service that’s best for you.

When you’re ready to take the first step, it’s also important that you be open and honest with your physician about the results you want to achieve, so that the treatment experience can be pleasant and enjoyable. A great way to become familiar and comfortable with a reconstructive and plastic surgery team is to start small and check out services like waxing or makeup artistry. T&G For information about these and other services offered at Mount Nittany Physician Group Reconstructive & Cosmetic Surgery, visit cosmetic. mountnittany.org.

Emily Peterson, MD, is the plastic surgeon and physician division lead for Mount Nittany Physician Group Reconstructive & Cosmetic Surgery, as well as physician lead for the Physician Group’s surgical specialties.

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Penn State Special Collections

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about town

What’s Where Here?

Another new chapter in store for old Buckhout mansion site on East Beaver Avenue

By Nadine Kofman Whether coming back permanently or for a weekend, former State College residents must be startled when they discover that, anymore, they don’t know what’s where here.

Mercantile pillars remain the same. But what was at one time a full-service downtown hasn’t been that for many years. Now, a doorway ushers you into a different store.

Some establishments are completely changed.

Take 138 (140) East Beaver Avenue, for instance.

That location, only a block from the Penn State campus, closed its doors recently. July 15 was scheduled to be its last business day — culminating more than 70 years as the site of a pair of related grocery stores and a small CVS store (unusual these days). Before it went commercial, the 17room Buckhout mansion stood there.

Its grocery-store period ended 25 years ago. The Weisrelated Big Top Market closed in December 1992. It was missed by neighborhood and last-minute shoppers. “Shop no more: Only downtown grocery store slated to close,” read the Centre Dailey Times headline.

(Today, there is the larger McLanahan’s Downtown Market, 116 South Allen Street, which opened in 2001.)

Approaching the end, downtown had the vest-pocket-sized Big Top Market, and a larger Weis flourished on Westerly Parkway. The little market’s older sister had been the first Weis market in State College. Opening in the 1940s at the 138 East Beaver address, the local Weis Pure Food Stores had previously sold groceries in at least the 1930s at 106 West Beaver Avenue and 122 East College Avenue.

Weis was far from the first grocery store in the downtown and wasn’t alone when it arrived. Around the corner, at 134 then 136 South Allen Street, there was the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, subsequently shortened to the familiar A&P. At 131 West Beaver was Temple Market, noted for its fresh produce, paper-wrapped meat and home delivery.

A handy Weis store was especially crucial for older people renting in the five-story 1933 Glennland Building, nearby at 205 East Beaver Avenue — once the tallest building 24 - T&G August 2017

Before 138 East Beaver Avenue became a commercial space, the 17-room Buckhout mansion stood there.

downtown. I knew Glennland residents who had their groceries delivered when possible. Near there, at least one area resident now in her 90s remembers, “They let me take the shopping cart home,” coming to reclaim it later.

One summer day, I waved a happy personal “goodbye” at 138 East Beaver. Purchasing pocketable munchies for a Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, I stood in a check-out line behind an older woman wearing a tie-dyed dress (at that time, it was customary to wear something artsy for the festival). She turned out to be Miss (Elizabeth) Morrow, my strict ninth-grade English teacher. (The “C” I earned didn’t reflect all I learned.) It was a rare opportunity to thank her for being a wonderful teacher.

In addition to the building’s apartments, there have been offices/ businesses upstairs over the years, such as those of: physician E. W. Cullen, dentists O. R. Lake, W. S. Swift, and J. F. Breslin, chiropractor John Cornel, and the Ruth Showers Beauty Salon — one of my “mum”in-law’s regular destinations.

There were also neighborhood devotees of the recently-closed CVS, particularly renters at the eight-

story (mayor) Arnold Addison Court next door.

“I went two or three times a week; it was very convenient,” says one of them.

The spot where this three-story 1940s building stands, sources say, is being looked at for a six-story multi-use building with street-level commercial space; however, as of this writing, there was no redevelopment plan.

If replaced, it would be the second time a structure was erased from that plot.

“In 1877, Professor W. A. Buckhout (identified elsewhere as a “professor of botany and prominent citizen”) built the first wing of his later spacious mansion on the southwest corner of Pugh and Beaver,” wrote CDT writer Vivian Doty Hench in the newspaper’s golden anniversary publication, The History of State College 1896-1946.

“Used in the 1920’s as a fraternity house, and more recently as a rooming house,” the writer continued, “it was demolished in 1945 to make room for the Irven Mohnkern building (first owner). But in its day, it was the mecca for both town and gown affairs, and the center for social activities among the young people.”

State College has experienced multiple layers of history since its babyhood as a village beside the Farmers’ High School. An early layer included street names. Consistent with other downtown streets, the ones that form the Pugh/Beaver corner are named for early Penn State leaders.

Evan Pugh was its first president (1859-1864); James A. Beaver, a Bellefonte lawyer who became a Pennsylvania governor, was an early Penn State trustee; his name also shouts at the campus stadium.

The east-west College Avenue town/gown separation aside, South Pugh Street was to be the town’s main street — not Allen, named after William Allen, whose presidency was for only two years, following Pugh’s.

“Pugh street,” Vivian Doty Hench wrote, “designed by the first settlers to be the center of the town, became the center for private homes rather than business.”

So much for predicting what you’ll see here. T&G Nadine Kofman is a native Centre Countian and historian.

2017 August T&G - 25

on center

Marcela Taboada

T& G

Warrior Woman

Mexican American Lila Downs tells impassioned stories through song

By John Mark Rafacz Lila Downs is a global superstar and champion of indigenous cultures, but most people in the State College area probably haven’t heard of her. Central Pennsylvanians not familiar with Downs’ three-octave vocal range and poignant storytelling can get to know her when she makes her Penn State premiere October 17 at Eisenhower Auditorium.

One of the world’s most singular voices, Downs, who grew up in the United States and Mexico, tells tales that go beyond borders. The daughter of a father from Minnesota and a mother from Mexico — where she now lives in Oaxaca — her artistry bridges traditions from across the Americas.

“Fluency in Spanish isn’t necessary to understand Lila Downs’ shape-shifting voice,” writes a critic for the Associated Press. “It transcends language, carrying pure emotion. Downs moves from operatic stylings to rap and everything in between, with both artistic exploration and pop sensibility.”

Winner of a Grammy Award and four Latin Grammys, Downs has been influenced by the folk and ranchera music of Mexico and South America, as well as North American folk, jazz, blues, and hip-hop. As a passionate human rights activist, she often highlights issues in her lyrics that relate to social justice.

“The Mexican American singer has a stunning voice, a confident multicultural vision grounded in her Mixtec Indian roots,” writes a Los Angeles Times reviewer. “Ms. Downs has multiple voices, from an airborne near-falsetto down to a forthright alto and a sultry, emotive contralto,” adds a writer for The New York Times.

An NPR journalist describes Downs’ new album — Salón, Lágrimas y Deseo — as “a mix of traditional Mexican genres with a feminist beat.”

“On 2015’s Latin Grammy-winning Balas y Chocolat, Lila Downs delivered an album of folk songs and originals that juxtaposed modern Mexico with its rich history,” writes an AllMusic.com reviewer. “Its songs highlighted the impact of the drug war, environmental devastation, and the widening rift between economic classes in Mexico. Downs believes an artist’s role is not only to create but to be an activist. Salón, Lágrimas y Deseo is in many ways an extension of Balas y Chocolat, though its emphasis is different. Here Downs employs classic and 26 - T&G August 2017

Lila Downs is the daughter of a father from Minnesota and a mother from Mexico. Her artistry bridges traditions from across the Americas.

original songs to deliver a feminist manifesto … .”

Downs “was surprised at how explicitly woman-centric her record turned out and how full of pain she was feeling about the new reality of politics in the U.S.,” relates an NPR writer, who met with the singer to talk about the June release.

After hearing the new recording, a writer for Univision’s U-LAB podcast says “Downs demonstrates masterful vocal dexterity through songs spanning genres, original compositions, and covers of classics

by Alvaro Carrillo and José Alfredo Jiménez. She has never sounded so free, fierce, or vulnerable.” T&G

The presentation is part of the Center for the Performing Arts Diversity and Inclusion Collaborative. For information or tickets, visit cpa.psu.edu or phone (814) 863-0255.

John Mark Rafacz is the editorial manager of the Center for the Performing Arts.

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A Home for Penn State History?

With fate of the Beta house in limbo, suggestions include a university museum Penn State University Archives

By Lee Stout

This image from a museum space in the original Old Main, circa 1900, shows pieces used as illustrative material for art classes.

In June, the Beta Theta Pi controversy prompted me to write about the challenges of being a fraternity member or leader.

Recently, the fate of the house itself has become a topic of controversy as well. The land the house sits on is under a long-term lease from the university, which requires the building to continue its association with its original fraternity. This is now confounded by the permanent ban of Beta Theta Pi from Penn State.

In years past the Sigma Chi and Phi Delta Theta chapters closed their houses on campus. The lots reverted to university control and the buildings were torn down and used for other purposes. However, those two buildings were dilapidated, while the Beta house may be one of the most beautiful and elegant structures on campus. Demolishing it would be a senseless act. But what to do with it?

Around 50 years ago, two of the campus’s most historic structures were in danger of being razed to make way for newer buildings on the spaces they occupied. The Armory was demolished in 1964, despite student, alumni, and faculty objections. But when it was proposed that the President’s Residence should also go, Penn Staters arose in protest. Today, the Armory site is home to the undistinguished Willard Building 28 - T&G August 2017

extension, while the former President’s Residence has been incorporated in the modern Hintz Family Alumni Center, much-admired for both its style and historical sensibility.

But before the one disappeared and the other survived, both the Armory and the President’s Residence were proposed as possible sites for a Penn State history museum, and now there has been a suggestion that the Beta house might also serve such a purpose.

The University Park campus is well-stocked with museums. We have the Palmer Museum of Art along with several other galleries on campus, the Matson Museum of Anthropology, the Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum, the Frost Entomological Museum, and at Rock Springs, the Pasto Agricultural Museum.

While most people think of art when they hear the word “museum,” there are also natural history collections, like the geological and entomological displays, as well as “systematics” collections in the life sciences, ranging from the much-loved H.O. Smith Arboretum to collections like the Penn State Agricultural College Herbarium and the Mushroom Spawn Laboratory’s Culture Collection, which are restricted to instruction and research uses.

But what about Penn State history?

Reminders of the school’s past range from the Land Grant murals in Old Main to the historical markers all over campus, and perhaps most popular with the public, the Penn State AllSports Museum at Beaver Stadium.

But sport offers only one perspective on the history of Penn State. The other center for collections and research on the institution’s history is the University Archives in Paterno Library. It stages periodic history exhibits in the Library, the Hintz Family Alumni Center, and other spots on campus.

The Archives has numerous photographs and documents to display, even paintings and prints showing past views of the campus, the students, faculty, staff, and campus life in general. There are also a limited number of artifacts, objects that could be displayed, but opportunities to exhibit them, space to store, preserve, and maintain information about them, are all limited. Simply put, the Archives is a research center, not a museum.

Modern history museums are centers for stories and interpretation, education and enlightenment, as well as entertainment and community-building. Some history museums are housed in modern buildings where exhibits are like open books telling stories of the past through images and artifacts. These museums may also include recreated period rooms, work or living spaces where artifacts are shown in context, like a colonial frontier cabin or a 1920s kitchen, for example.

Other history museums are housed in historic buildings themselves where we can see, say, Victorian family life or a factory shop for making buggies in their original context. Their past can be interpreted for us by docents or sometimes by living history recreators, who give us a first-person narration.

So, what would a Penn State history museum be? Among the many stories it could tell would be the evolution of the institution itself; the nature of instruction, research, or outreach; or even the story of the community that hosts the university and its population.

Spaces of the past, such as early classrooms or laboratories, could be recreated and the nature of teaching or discovery explained. Deeper dives could take us into the evolution of knowledge in various fields and how it was discovered and taught in various disciplines. Changes in the student or faculty experience — social life as well as academics — could be interpreted.

Penn Staters love their history and traditions.

A Penn State museum could provide both a venue to strengthen community bonds, as well as a use for a beautiful building that has likely outlived its original purpose.

Lee Stout is librarian emeritus, special collections for Penn State.

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Joseph Swanderski: Cecily Zhu: Cecily Zhu: From Dirty Water to Clean Greener Transportation Greener Transportation

When water goes down a drain on Penn

Cecily Zhuhas hasnever never owned car.

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“I todevelop developnew programson oncampus. campus.Among Amongthe the to programs love the feeling at the end of the day that I projects in the works are a bike sharing program projects in the works are a bike sharing program made the community a little better,” he says. andThe BEEP, safety-oriented Bicyclethanks Education and and BEEP, aasafety-oriented Bicycle Education and Penn State Bookstore Joseph Enforcement Program.

Enforcement SwanderskiProgram. and all faculty, staff, and The Penn Penn State Bookstore thanks Cecily students who carry out thethanks university’s The State Bookstore Cecily mission every day.staff, Zhu and all all faculty, faculty, staff, and and students students who who Zhu and carry out out the the university’s university’s mission mission every every day. day. carry

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Cultivating Potential Taproot Kitchen works toward a catering business for people with intellectual disabilities

By Holly Riddle

30 - T&G August 2017

Darren Andrew Weimert (6)

Patrick NorthupMoore (foreground) and Joey Schafer work in Taproot Kitchen’s garden.

2017 August T&G - 31

Taproot Kitchen has a new logo, courtesy of [CP]2’s Brand[Aid] initiative.

The logo was created by Kayla Corazzi, a Penn State graphic design student and intern at AccuWeather.

Tucked away off South Atherton Street in State College is a meticulously planted garden. Designed by a local permaculture expert — Jackie Bonomo — every plant has a purpose. Some ward off harmful insects; others attract the right ones for pollination. There’s a smaller garden-withinthe-garden catering to the butterfly population, some very healthy-looking tomato plants, and an innovative asparagus patch (it’s been built using discarded concrete from manufacturing molds).

Furthest from the street is a series of raised beds, and a chicken coop.

The little spot of sustainable agriculture heaven is worthy of note just as it is, but its overarching purpose is far more impressive

32 - T&G August 2017

than its existence alone. A project of Taproot Kitchen, the plot of land serves a very underserved and often overlooked group within our community — young adults with intellectual disabilities.

Taproot Kitchen cofounders Sharon Schafer and Anne Rohan, both mothers of children with disabilities, say the State College Area School District does a tremendous job of involving and educating intellectually disabled children. But once they hit 21, there are few resources available, whether for socialization, job development, or education in general. Few are able to find employment, and those who do generally find their work unfulfilling. “[After graduating], there are a large amount of people who just sit at home,” says Rohan. “You go from this

full inclusion to just being very isolated.” She points out how this leads to not only depression, but also health issues such as obesity.

Knowing their children would shortly be coming upon this stage in their lives, Schafer and Rohan joined to form a solution, and Taproot Kitchen was born. It began operating in 2015.

“This period of their lives is where the energy needs to be put right now,” says Schafer. “Our goal was really to connect them to the community. We know when they can be demonstrating to the community what they’re capable of, there’ll be more employers willing to try to give them a job.

People will accept them more as neighbors and equal members of the community.

Sometimes employers just don’t really know how to employ them.”

Taproot Kitchen’s tagline is “Everybody has a place at the table,” and the organization certainly exemplifies its motto. Its goals are three-

pronged: looking to offer community engagement through the local food systems, vocational training, and even employment opportunities in the future, through its catering business, which is currently in the works.

All three goals, Schafer says, are connected to the overarching theme of giving young adults with intellectual disabilities a vital role within the community, and a place to call their own.

In Taproot’s few years of existence, it has begun involving its members in the community through a series of dinners, where the participants cook and serve their guests; they source foods from their own gardens and also local agricultural producers. They’ve even catered several events around town.

“Instead of always looking at our guys as the ones who need to be served, [we’re] going out into our community and being the ones who serve,” says Rohan. “[We] go out to the CSA and we help them with the harvest and we help cater meals for other nonprofits.”

Diners are treated to a fantastic, professional experience, and that’s something both co-founders agree they wanted from the beginning.

“One of the things we talked about when we started doing dinners was that we didn’t want the focus to be on disability. … We wanted people to come to our dinners and say, ‘Oh my gosh, that was a good dinner! Wait, who cooked it?’” adds Rohan.

Taproot Kitchen is making its presence in the community known in other ways as well, as it partners with various individuals and businesses around State College to combine resources.

Schafer and Rohan note that it may be the first time many community members have worked with individuals with disabilities, and they can be surprised by the unique energy level found within Taproot Kitchen.

They also recognize the

high level of receptiveness they’ve found in Centre County, with people open to their ideas and interested in innovative social ventures revolving around raising people up and bringing them together, to form a community fabric.

Patrick NorthupMoore pours a mix to make popsicles.

2017 August T&G - 33

especially, crews from Taproot have been coming regularly on Wednesday mornings to help in any way they can. We have benefited tremendously from their help harvesting carrots [and] beets, and with some gleaning and weeding projects.”

Schonberg adds that he feels the Taproot Kitchen “vision addresses a real need in our community in a creative and practical way,” and he and his wife, Beth, are eager to be a part of the project as it continues to grow.

Chris Wolf dries dishes after popsiclemaking.

One of these receptive organizations is the Community Supported Agriculture farm Plowshare Produce, which has watched Taproot Kitchen “go from just a dream to reality.”

“In the past year or two, groups from Taproot have come out when we have gleaning opportunities,” says Micah Schonberg,

34 - T&G August 2017

co-owner of Plowshare.

“When we harvest potatoes, for instance, and there are lots of potatoes with cosmetic blemishes, Taproot can use those seconds for their catering projects. …

This season

“Everybody has a place at the table”

Other community partners have included professional culinary providers, who are volunteering their time and skills to teach young adults talents such as pasta-making and baking from scratch.

One of these partners is Tony Sapia of Gemelli Bakers, who says “it’s been absolutely wonderful working with them and getting these young adults … out in the workforce. Once you engage the hands, the mind follows … and [they] do an awesome job.”

Sapia was one of several connections Taproot Kitchen found through Dr. U.B. Bakker, chairman for the

Taproot Kitchen aims to give young adults with intellectual disabilities a vital role within the community.

Town & Gown International Leadership & Partnership Development Foundation, who’s taken on an advisory role for the group.

“I met … the co-leaders of Taproot Kitchen three years back at a gathering of community activists and leaders and found out what they were doing briefly,” recounts Bakker.

“I started getting to know them and started advising them to develop what I call a friend-raising program, where we would go out and look for appropriate and prominent members of our community in State College and at Penn State to find out if they have resources that could be matched with the needs of Taproot Kitchen clientele.”

Bakker continues to assist Taproot Kitchen with its goals.

“The ultimate goals are … providing [members] skills that would enable them to become a productive and a professional member of our community. … We’re trying to work with the director of culinary programs at our medical center here at Mount Nittany, eventually [for the members] to provide volunteer help in their kitchen and, if they qualify, get part-time jobs.”

“I found out in Istanbul, Turkey, there is a similar group and they have just opened up a Down syndrome coffee house, so I brought

2017 August T&G - 35

David Sharpe shows off a finished Taproot Kitchen popsicle.

Joey Schafer with one of the milkshakes Taproot Kitchen made to sell during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.

this to our group and I told them if we continued to improve our skill levels and put together several fundraising dinners, we will have enough money to fly and visit that group, or invite them to come visit with us here, so that we could have international connections, understanding, and support.

They loved that idea!”

Bakker notes that these developments may be further down the road, as much as five or more years.

The group participated in a Farm Fresh Milkshakes fundraiser at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in July and will do so again at the upcoming Grange

36 - T&G August 2017

Fair, serving and selling the milkshakes that have been a much-loved treat at the Pennsylvania Farm Show for decades. The opportunity was facilitated in part by Ryan Herr, who first became involved with Taproot Kitchen as a Penn State student, conducting a project for a class on food systems.

“Taproot Kitchen was the

perfect combination for me,” Herr says, “because it had to do with cooking, which is something I’ve always loved to do, and working with young adults with intellectual disabilities, and that’s something that I did in high school.”

He hints at the possibility of Taproot Kitchen making an appearance alongside Farm Fresh

Milkshakes at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in January.

Schafer and Rohan are also on track to finish remodeling Taproot’s physical kitchen, located just down the street from the garden, inside the Meetinghouse on Atherton.

The remodels are a part of their larger goal to begin monetizing and expanding their catering jobs.

“Right now we do a lot of catering, but we do it for donations,” says Schafer. “So it’s word-of-mouth kind of, but we won Brand[Aid]. They’re catapulting us, so we need to be ready. We’re working toward [the renovations], but I hope we can be up and running with all the certifications in a few months.”

The local Brand[Aid] is an initiative from Central

Pennsylvania Creative Professionals — [CP]2— and brings together dozens of creative professionals to help a local nonprofit. The benefits include marketing and branding help, which Taproot Kitchen has been using to further focus its goals, update its website, and create branded materials.

Additionally, event appearances alongside community partners are slated for the remainder of the year.

“Probably this fall, we’ll do one with the Barn at Lemont,” notes Schafer.

“They want to do a harvest thing, and that will probably coincide

with the Fall into Vegetables campaign, which is with Centre Moves, and then after that we have some ideas. We’re going to partner with Global Connections, and they do regular international dinners. We don’t know how extensive that partnership will be yet.”

Regardless of how Taproot

2017 August T&G - 37

Kitchen expands or changes, though, one thing will always stay the same.

“What we always aimed to be, even from the very beginning, is to be here for everybody,” Rohan says. “We want to be in a position where we can help people become entrepreneurs and learn job skills, and employ people through the

catering company … to help everybody in some way, shape, or form get involved in the community.” T&G Want to help Taproot Kitchen achieve its goals?

Volunteers are needed in the coming months for assistance with garden projects, the kitchen renovations, and

Kara Rohan, Joyce Kreuter, James Tuttle, and Chris Wolf at work in the kitchen.

event planning. Reach out to Schafer and Rohan at hello@taprootkitchen.org.

Holly Riddle is a freelance writer in State College.

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Building A Scho o Comm u The new State High, set to debut in January, is about more than gleaming structures and 21st-century technology

[ By James Turchick [

40 - T&G August 2017

Darren Andrew Weimert (4)

o ol m unity

2017 August T&G - 41

W

hen class bells ring in the 201718 school year for State College Area High School students, they’ll be standing on the edge of a new era years in the making.

Come January, they’ll walk through the doors of a glistening new building on Westerly Parkway and turn the corner toward the future.

Sunlight will do most of the work to illuminate the building.

Floor-to-ceiling windows wrap around most of its body, so the school will feel a part of the landscape around it.

Twenty-first century equipment in each of the four, three-story learning pods at the site of the old South Building will take students and teachers to new levels. At the same time, 42 - T&G August 2017

the central courtyard will let them get away from the 21st century when needed.

A 100-person, highceilinged forum sits as the centerpiece, with a view out above the massive main entrance, over the street, and down to the North Building.

The high school has “been growing, and growing, and growing as time goes along, but most of the original infrastructure dates back to the ’50s and ’60s,” says Ed Poprik, director of the physical plant for the State College Area School District. Poprik is playing a key role in the district’s $141 million project to build a new high school.

The North Building on Westerly Parkway replaced the Fairmont Building as State

A rendering (top) offers an overall view of the new South Building complex planned for State High.

The four learning pods in the front will open in January. A cut-out showing material in the walls of the new school sits outside a construction-site trailer.

Construction manager Tim Jones (above left) and Ed Poprik, the school district’s director of physical plant, inside the new South Building under construction.

A diagram gives a sense of scale by showing Beaver Stadium superimposed over the school plans.

College’s primary high school in 1957. Whether planned or not, out of necessity the high school campus grew.

“I don’t know if they had hoped to or not, but when the district grew, the South Building had been a junior high and then became part of the high school when Park Forest and Mount Nittany (middle schools) came into being,” Superintendent Robert O’Donnell says.

Their construction allowed the South Building, built in 1962, to house ninth- and tenthgraders in the 1980s. In 1990 the high school was restructured to be one school including both North and South buildings.

“Just through growth, we ended up with a campus,” says O’Donnell, who joined the district in 2011.

Multiple additions over the years helped the district keep up. A gymnasium and

swimming pool were added in 1989, and additional classrooms and wings in 1999. Come the early 2000s, out of necessity once more, the district began looking toward the future.

“We started this in 2003,” Poprik says.

When the building got to be 50 years old, there had to be decisions about significant upgrades, he adds. With no air conditioning, a failing heating system and mechanical equipment not meant to last more than a half-century, conversations became about replacing the whole school.

“We had a project planned that went out to bid in 2007. A lot 2017 August T&G - 43

Natural light illuminates the main commons area of the new South Building, in this rendering.

of the comments were against it,” Poprik says, and the plan was eventually scrapped prior to a referendum.

Asking to raise residents’ taxes wasn’t easy, Poprik admits.

“You’re asking people to go into a voting booth, close the curtain behind them and press a button that says, ‘Raise my taxes.’ It’s a tough question to ask.”

Seven years later, the district had more success. O’Donnell

says six designs were presented to the community and narrowed down to one through community surveys. O’Donnell and Poprik agree that getting the residents of State College more involved in the process was paramount.

In May 2014, the State College district passed only the second referendum approving

a school construction project in Pennsylvania history, allowing the district to borrow $85 million to help finance the work. Poprik thinks the 2014 effort was successful because district residents came to believe they have a responsibility to the future.

“Most voters don’t have kids in school but the way we tried to ask them to think about it is, ‘X-number of years ago,

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Work continues on a walkway behind the new South Building.

somebody who didn’t have kids in school paid for your education. Now it’s time to pay it back,’” he says.

Other funding includes a separate $46 million bond issue, with the debt service payments funded through the district’s current revenue stream, and $10 million from the district’s capital reserve fund. A $3.5 million contingency fund sits untouched at this point in the construction.

Now halfway through the project, started in 2015 and slated to finish in the summer of 2019, the first building is coming into focus. Four three-story educational pods jut out from in front of the old South Building; they look out over the soon-tobe-revitalized North Building.

Attached to the curved main hallway and outdoor green

space, the pods are an attempt to bring the scale of the high school down a little.

“Besides (changing) the building, we’re looking at how we educate kids,” Poprik says.

“Previously it was a factory model where kids move from room to room and there’s a bank of social studies rooms and then a bank of English rooms.”

In these new pods, classes will be clustered and a student

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State High Project Timeline January 2018 • Two-week winter break ends January 5 • Students move in to new portion of the South Building and continue to use North Building • Construction begins in earnest on rear portion of South Building June 2018-July 2019 • Demolition and new construction at North Building • Classes are phased into completed, new high school Summer 2019 • Project completion

46 - T&G August 2017

may take social studies or English next door to where he or she takes math or science.

By clustering classrooms, the district is hoping to create more connectivity between students, teachers, and the subjects they study and teach.

The current high school expanded to include the South Building because there was a need for space, O’Donnell says.

“It wasn’t by design or proximity — what you see there happened because of growth,” he says. “The layout of this new campus is done purposively. Student programs and experiences are at the core of our design.”

Outside of the core classes, whether students are inclined to arts, humanities, business,

healthcare, or the auto shop, O’Donnell says the facilities are laid out in a more userfriendly manner. “We wanted to update outdated facilities, climate control, and safety.”

With 2,000 students at State High, it’s easy for many not to see a teacher more than once a day. O’Donnell wants to change that.

“I was in an 1,100-student school … where I was teaching,” he says of a previous position in Pennsylvania. “I probably saw my kids two or three times a day just by standing in the hallway. If a student’s going to see their teacher multiple times a day, then there’s going to be more interaction (between them).”

It’s for the teachers too,

O’Donnell says. Understanding who their students are, what their interests are, and what their career goals are will help teachers know strengths and weaknesses, so they can grow with their students. By clustering interest areas into the pods and keeping students near the same people during the day, O’Donnell and his team are hopeful students will get a more personalized learning experience.

Designing a space to foster relationships is an arduous task when no test run can be done before it goes into service.

“The challenges to get to this point included alignment,” O’Donnell says. “Getting people to align, getting the community and school district to support one direction. It took a lot of conversation and a lot of ups and downs to get to this point on a big project.”

After so much conversation and work, O’Donnell says excitement is starting to build around the project and should only get more intense as its completion date draws nearer.

Tim Jones of Massaro Construction Management Services LLC has been overseeing the project as construction manager.

In each of the four pods, Jones explains, a large communal space will sit between classrooms to allow teachers and students to work in groups. With moveable tables and chairs, different classes can meet during the day to learn together.

“It’s a large building, but if you learn the footprint it’s not hard to navigate,” Poprik says. With graphics on the wall to highlight what part of the building students are in, it should be a piece of cake to get around, he adds.

From wall-sized windows everywhere imaginable around the building, natural light will pour into the space and make it more comfortable. Metal paneling along the building traps heat in the winter and newly designed windows get rid of it in the spring.

All of these designs are part of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, Jones says. LEED certifies buildings for certain comfortability and energy-efficiency standards. Jones says the building will be goldrated and was designed to enable the natural world around the building to play a part in its functionality.

All-new mechanical systems with climate control in each pod, air intake ducts to keep fresh air in the building, and an array of other 21st-century luxuries will fill the building.

In January, work will begin in earnest on the old South Building to the rear of the new structure, a phase that will include gyms, performing arts spaces, offices, and a fitness center.

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SCASD/Nabil K. Mark

Superintendent Robert O’Donnell says “student programs and experiences are at the core” of the new school’s design.

Part of the North Building will be razed and new space for the Delta Program and a district kitchen will be constructed beginning in June. That work is expected to be completed in the summer of 2019.

With construction ongoing as classes are in session, “the biggest challenge is working around the kids,” Jones says. Working around the construction has been a challenge for those in the school as well.

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“When one of the largest cranes you’ve ever seen in person is lifting airconditioning units onto the roof and it’s a sunny day outside, kids will probably be distracted,” O’Donnell says.

The winter deadline becomes crucial for the district as the next phase begins in January. Winter break will be extended to two weeks instead of the usual one week off. During this

time, the district will be working to get everything moved into the new school on time.

“Every day is a challenge when you’re dealing with construction projects,” Poprik says. With more than 100 workers involved daily, coordinating the activities of construction teams and school life has been a big challenge, but with only months left until the process moves on, the people leading it are optimistic.

“This is the fruit of that work,” Poprik says.

“It’s exciting to see it come to fruition,” O’Donnell says. “We’re very fortunate to have the support of the community.” T&G To see more views of the new State High, visit townandgown.com.

James Turchick, a Town&Gown intern, is a senior journalism major at Penn State.

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I

f you want to camp at the Grange Fair, you had better find the philosopher’s stone — the mystical substance from ancient legend that was supposed to make someone immortal — because the wait time for a tent was literally hundreds of years before staff stopped taking names.

Out of the 1,000 tents set up each year for campers from 22 states, perhaps only one or two will open up after each season. When organizers for the Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair stopped taking names years ago, the list had grown to about 500.

The RV wait list, too, is long. Combine the 1,500 RVs with the families and friends in the 1,000 tents, the fair participants and workers, and the 25,000 just coming in for a day, and you get more than 200,000 visitors each year to the largest fair acreage-wise in Pennsylvania.

All those people, all the vendors to feed them, the 7,000 exhibits, the rides and attractions to entertain them, and infrastructure and staff to support them equals a multi-million dollar operation that is renowned throughout the nation.

In the space of just a few days in late August (the 143rd edition runs August 18-26), waves

of tent and RV campers will form a small city on the 264-acre fairgrounds, just outside the boundaries of Centre Hall Borough.

Darlene Confer, manager of the fairgrounds, has a single word to describe the week leading up to the fair’s opening as everyone moves in: “Chaos.”

Yet every year, everyone finds their place on the grounds and the temporary denizens of the pop-up city settle in.

Everyone is pretty well-behaved, Confer says, because no one wants to lose their spot.

The campers may bring their couches, signs, and fancy lights, but the encampment doesn’t just happen spontaneously. There are 38 committee members overseeing the various departments, with about 375 employees in varying capacities under a payroll budget of $600,000.

The expenditures for the 2016 fair were $2.7 million. The fair paid $100,000 in taxes and manages a $120,000 sound system. The fair racks up $336,000 in utilities, with $137,000 going to electricity, and $125,000 to sewer.

This last point is something that most fair-goers won’t think about, but sewage management is a reality for major-event Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair (7)

Each year, 200,000 visitors flock to the Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair.

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organizers. Recently the fair had to buy a $250,000 sewer tank because it was exceeding its cap of 27,000 gallons per day.

Even that tank isn’t big enough. Workers have to pump some waste onto a truck that hauls it away to another treatment plant during the week of the fair.

Grange Fair staff and committee members say their planning for a particular year’s fair

starts during the previous year’s event. While they’re walking around enjoying the sights, smells, and human connection, making sure all is in order, they’re also taking stock of what can be improved upon, what should be eliminated, and anything that needs to be repaired or replaced, Confer says.

Bill Witmer, grounds superintendent, starts with about 10 people in March to awaken the grounds from the November wintering and builds to a 20-person crew as the fair approaches. Some are mowing fulltime, working their way around to different sections of the grounds.

Throughout the spring and early summer, they paint and make repairs to buildings. They also patch up the tents, since each tent costs just under $1,000, and the minimum order is 40 from Woods, a Canadian outdoors company.

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The waiting list for tents at the Grange Fair had grown to about 500 before staff stopped taking names.

It’s at this time that Grange staffers will begin to implement the improvements they saw from last year’s fair, like which buildings need TLC and what roads need to be repaved. With more than 100 buildings, they have to pick and choose where to invest.

When the spring thaw arrives, Amy Evans, director of marketing and social media, begins plucking up the sponsorships.

By March, the contracts for vendors are in the mail and are due back in June. The Grange Fair is always looking to add variety to its spread of food vendors. Barb Gates, director of concessions, this year added a cookie dough stand, and in recent years has added gluten-free options.

During all of this, the grounds are host to numerous other events not related to the fair.

The closing weeks of July featured a host of 4-H events, a dog show, two reunions, an event from the Pennsylvania Quarter Horse Association, and the PA Certified Organic Farm Fest.

As July draws to a close each year, the grounds are cut off from outside groups. It’s time for the big one.

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“The (Pennsylvania) Department of Ag tells us that we have the best agricultural fair.”

— Darlene Confer

The tents require a large amount of labor, and take about 10 days to set up or tear down.

They can’t remain up for long, for fear of storm damage, so the crews get help from inmates at local correctional institutions.

Then, the Sunday before the fair, the tenters are permitted to install their 4-foot-by-14-foot porches at the front of their 14-foot-by-14-foot military-style tents, as well as a 6-foot-by14-foot kitchen. At this time they can also drop off their heavier items, like their iconic Grange couches and furniture.

The RV campers move in from the Friday through Monday at the start of the fair, directed by the gate and parking crews.

During fair week the grounds crew are

helping people to park, solving problems with campers, and making last-minute repairs. They’re constantly roving for debris and taking garbage out of the fair.

Then comes the final day of the fair, which turns into a mass exodus, Confer says.

“It’s a mad dash, it truly is,” she says.

About 90 percent of the tenters and RV campers will be gone by the close of Sunday after the fair has concluded, and the vendors have all moved off to their next event.

The grounds crew will work to clean up and return the grounds to a useable state for the next events. Every department worker will take stock and prepare to debrief.

There are too many departments within

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Campers get creative in installing porches in front of their tents.

the organized structure of the Grange Fair to list, but hundreds of people work long days before and during the fair to serve the 200,000-plus guests each year.

During all of this planning, the fair staff and committee have to look to the future and add little pieces to the overall puzzle.

This year, for example, the Grange Fair is taking advantage of the evolution of a photocentric culture. There will be a selfie booth as well as a life-like baby Tyrannosaurus for children to pose with; both have been massively popular at other fairs.

Evans has been working to engage people

through social media, using a huge photo library from years past. She says this helps organizers reach a wider audience in the United States and Canada, generate interest during the offseason, and push Grange Fair promotions like advance ticket sales to prospective visitors.

“I think what it does is engages our fair audience all year long because we do post on our site all year long,” Evans says. “I think it keeps the excitement going year after year.”

After the next fiscal year’s budget is set in early fall, the fairgrounds begin to close down. As winter begins, so begins the calls •Patio Covers Retractable & Stationary •Window Awnings •Drop Curtains •Porch Valance •All awnings made In-House •Storage, Removal & Reinstallation Services Available 113 Musser Lane, Bellefonte, PA 16823

814-355-8979 or 1-800-669-2964

www.midstateawning.com 56 - T&G August 2017

PA#687

by Kris McCloskey, entertainment coordinator, to the performers for next year’s show. She’ll set them in stone sometime in January.

McCloskey will schedule many local performers for two of the stages, but then Variety Attractions of Zanesville, Ohio, will help to obtain some of the larger acts for the main grandstand stage.

Confer says that while the area is well-familiar with the fair and what it has to offer, local residents might not realize how widely renowned it is.

During a trip to the International Association of Fairs and Expos in Las Vegas, she says she was received warmly; people had been waiting for someone from the Grange to share knowledge of such a huge endeavor.

“When I arrived I registered and they said ‘We’ve been waiting for you! You’re the fair with all the tents! We’ve been reading, we’ve

Inside: Men in the Community • The heroic efforts of Penn Staters in World War I

Town&Gown APRIL 2017

FREE

TOWNANDGOWN.COM

The fair remains true to its history as an agricultural event.

Town&Gown MAY 2017

RAMPING UP

FREE

TOWNANDGOWN.COM

Fostering

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram (@TownGownSC)

a Home

Foster families such as the Leddy family help create loving environments for kids

Once a ski area only, Tussey Mountain has evolved into a year-round attraction

Golden Brothers Brothers

The special sibling relationship between Cael and Cody Sanderson has helped lead Penn State wrestling to six national titles in seven years

SUMMER Inside: All-Star alums from county schools • Special ‘Milestones’ history section

Inside: Rotary Foundation turns 100 • The diverse roles of local police

If it’s happening in Happy Valley, it’s in Town&Gown 2017 August T&G - 57

About 1,500 RVs pack the fairgrounds each year.

been on your website. You have to tell us about it!’”

Keeping to the original spirit of country fairs, Confer says the Grange Fair is still king when it comes to agriculture.

“The (Pennsylvania) Department of Ag tells us that we have the best agricultural fair,” Confer says. “They’ve reiterated that several times.”

“It’s always been a part of our mission to be an agricultural fair. Although we look to many

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other areas to attract people, we try to remain true to that mission. We just have such a strong community as far as agriculture goes, the 4H, the extension programs, the FFA programs, very, very strong in Centre County.” T&G To follow the latest developments regarding the fair, visit Facebook.com/centrecountygrangefair.

Sean Yoder is a staff writer for Town&Gown and the Centre County Gazette.

Everyone at SunnyDays is Happy With The Beautiful New Location!

Sunny Days Adult Daily Living Center provides daily programming in a safe, stimulating and supportive environment, to help maintain or improve function level and quality of life for individuals with physical and/ or intellectual disabilities. We are also here to provide respite for families and caregivers.

Serving adults over 18 years of age with disabilities.

Daily Programs designed for 60+ Seniors Dual Licensed for Aging and ID. Nurse on staff!

Hours are 7:30 am-4:00 pm, Monday-Friday Daily lunch provided, including special diets.

Come visit us at the Grange Fair Aug. 18-26th 2017, Building 11 Come see us for fun and information on our programs!

We currently work with individuals with: Intellectual disabilities, Physical handicaps, and Dementia.

Caring for People with Special Needs 105 Stonecrest Dr. Suite 1 Bellefonte, PA • 814-357-0292 www.sunnydaysadultdailylivingcenter.com

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Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County

Creating a community of artists, families and patrons of the arts 2017 Remaining Exhibition Schedule • “Saddle up: Art and Artifacts of the Old West”. This is a

story of the old west told in art and artifact. The exhibition is meant to share the spirit of the American West through art, and objects that became art. Leather saddles, blankets, and paintings of historic scenes will help tell the story of the westward expansion.

• Abstract Art: Painting What We Feel”. The museum has

organized an exhibition of abstract art, inviting local artists and artists from other areas of the country. Using shapes, textures, colors, and brush strokes, abstract art achieves its effect without representing external reality.

• The Holiday Show and Sale”.

• This exhibition and sale has become a tradition that ends the calendar year with the sale of art and crafts done by members of the museum’s Artist Registry in time for holiday gifting.

2018 Plan to join the museum to celebrate our

tenth anniversary.

The year will be an “Imagination Celebration”!

Programs and art exhibits planned include a focus on interactive art shows with “Self Portraits of Artists”, “The World of Kusama”, “Legos like Weiwei”, and “African Ceremonial Kangas”. Annual events like the “Graduating High School Art Show” and “The Holiday Show and Sale” are also scheduled. The summer project will invite you to experience a wide range of ways to expand your creativity and experience the arts in Central Pennsylvania.

133 N. Allegheny St., Bellefonte (814) 355-4280 • www.BellefonteMuseum.org

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12TH ANNUAL REVERSE CAR DRAWING 9/21/17 6 -10PM @ MEDLAR FIELD (SPIKES STADIUM)

Ticket Cost: $350 and Includes Admission for 2, 1 in 400 Chance to WIN a New Car, Live Entertainment, Unlimited Food and Beverages

THE EVENT OF THE FALL! One lucky winner will walk away with a new car!

Attendance not necessary to win.

Money raised supports The Bestwick Foundation and the PSU Coaches vs Cancer Program.

Our Mission The Bestwick Foundation is a local non-profit organization nestled in the heart of State College, PA. Money raised through yearly events and fundraisers is distributed to local families and individuals who are struggling to fight cancer and other hardships, as well as to other local organizations and partners in the Centre Region. Our efforts hope to make a direct impact on our community and enrich the lives of others.

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Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts

From artist ambassadors to weather forecasters, it takes a small army of hard working people to bring the Festival to life. We can’t thank each and every one of those people enough. But we try!

We look forward to welcoming everyone again July 11-15, 2018 for the 52nd Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts!

Don’t miss First Night State College on December 31, 2017!

403 S. Allen St., Suite 205A, State College (813) 237-3682 arts-festival.com

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Centre County PAWS

1401 Trout Road, State College, PA16801 (814) 237-8722 www.centrecountypaws.org

Centre County PAWS was founded in 1980 by a group of local residents who were concerned about the county’s cat overpopulation. This organization initially started as a loose network of foster homes for cats. In 1995 Dr. Fred Metzger and Lee Metzger generously offered PAWS a lease on a 900-square-foot building near Metzger Animal Hospital for $1 per year. PAWS then began a fledgling dog-adoption program, relying solely on foster homes in the 1990s. By 1998, PAWS was holding regular showings on Sunday afternoons of dogs available for adoption, a tradition that continues to this day.

In 2007, the new, 14,000-square-foot PAWS Adoption & Tulip Education Center opened and animals began to be housed at the Center. The current center has space for more than 100 cats and more than 30 dogs, as well as a fully equipped surgical suite, meet-and-greet rooms for the visiting public, isolation and quarantine rooms, an enclosed, outdoor cat play area, cat sunrooms, fenced-in dog play yards, administrative offices, and a finished basement for meetings and events.

Since then PAWS has grown to have a force of over 110 active volunteers, 2-full time and 9 parttime employees that work tirelessly to help the cats and dogs of Centre County. The growth of the organization has been thanks to robust volunteer recruitment and training programs, extensive fundraising efforts, and a regularly updated strategic plan.

In 2016 PAWS placed 512 homeless cats and 337 dogs into loving forever homes. The organization also has a Spay and Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP) to help combat companion animal overpopulation. 1,806 cats and dogs were altered through PAWS low-cost spay/neuter clinics and voucher program in 2016.

PAWS has numerous annual fundraisers and events that can be found on their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you would like to donate or to become a PAWS volunteer, please visit the website at www.centrecountypaws.org to learn more.

Forrest

sponsored by: 68 - Special Section

Elaine

www.wiscoypet.com

Find Us on Facebook!

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CCWRC - Preventing Violence In addition to providing services to women, men, and children who have experienced dating and domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, the Centre County Women’s Resource Center (CCWRC) is also dedicated to stopping violence before it happens. We work to address and change the roots of violence – norms that give some individuals power over others based upon their gender, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, age, income, level of ability, or a number of other factors. When individuals accept these inequalities and learn the falsehood that violence is an acceptable course of action to retain power over another person, it’s easy to see how dating and domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking are perpetuated. To prevent violence, it’s critical to change these unhealthy cultural norms among individuals, relationships, our community, and society at large. Some of the CCWRC’s violence prevention work includes: • Multi-session Prevention Curricula – Implementing evidence-informed curricula which teaches children and youth from an early age how to have safe and healthy relationships.

• Community Awareness Presentations – Sharing the basic dynamics of domestic and sexual violence with university classes, businesses, non-profits, faith-based organizations and other groups.

• Awareness Campaigns – Working toward cultural change and widespread awareness of services for victims.

• Events – CCWRC holding and participating in awareness events throughout the year to engage the local community in our work.

• Social Media Outreach – publishing material on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest which can help further a violence-free society.

These pages are great places to learn principles to prevent violence as well as stay up-to-date on the latest CCWRC projects and events.

• Cross-agency Collaboration – working with other agencies to promote programs and policies which will help us have a violence-free community.

• Evaluation Research – through its own research and partnerships with external evaluators, CCWRC is continually working to improve its violence prevention strategies in order to make meaningful changes in the lives of Centre County residents.

For more information on CCWRC’s violence prevention efforts or to request a program, visit www.ccwrc.org

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ClearWater Conser vancy The mission of ClearWater Conservancy, a nationally-accredited land trust organization, is to conserve and restore the natural resources through land conservation, water resource stewardship and environmental outreach across central Pennsylvania.

Dear Readers, The vision of ClearWater Conservancy, “… to nurture a healthy environment and thriving communities in the heart of Pennsylvania,” has guided our work for nearly four decades. Our latest land conservation effort, the Slab Cabin Run Initiative, is a great example of our vision at work.

For a short time we have the opportunity to permanently conserve 300 acres of iconic farmland in the heart of a growing town – the Meyer Dairy Farm.

More than a beautiful view and a productive farm, these 300 acres are immediately adjacent to the region’s most important, most reliable drinking water wells for the State College region. The groundwater beneath the Meyer Dairy Farm supplies these wells, making this a highly proactive and strategic land conservation effort.

Thanks to generous donors, we are $400,000 away from reaching our $2.75 million fundraising goal by the September 30 deadline. Will you help us reach the finish line?

Please consider a contribution to this effort to protect our local drinking water and make a ‘forever farm.’ We may never have another opportunity to make such a positive and permanent impact on our small, but growing community.

Please visit www.slabcabinrun.org to learn more. Or, contact me directly via phone or email at deb@clearwaterconservancy.org or 814-237-0400.

Thank You,

Deb Nardone, Executive Director ClearWater Conservancy

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The House of Care Since 2000, the House of Care has provided care to 69 Centre County residents with limited life expectancies who find themselves without sufficient finances or family support for other community options.

Known as “a personal care home with a heart,” we provide the physical, emotional, and spiritual care our residents need, and we become their home.

In early summer 2009, Adam* was one of those who passed through our door. He had no family, no real roots, and a string of mental health and physical diagnoses as long as his six-foot frame. Though his pain must have been significant, Adam rarely complained. In the end, we said prayers together and held his hand as he let go of his time on this earth. We went to the funeral home to identify his body and collect his ashes. On a quiet evening, we gathered in our living room and held a memorial service of celebration to honor our friend. He came through our door, and we cared and changed together.

We always have in the front of our minds the question of where our residents would live if House of Care did not exist. We worry some would fall through the cracks and end up homeless. Our residents are not able to fully care for themselves, but they do not need skilled nursing care, which makes the House of Care so critical to our community.

Skilled care facilities do exist; however, in order to qualify to live in them, individuals must prove they require greater assistance with activities of daily living, something our residents cannot prove.

The House of Care is an essential part of the social infrastructure of Centre County, and most people in Centre County are not aware of this. While we have a relatively small budget compared to other local non-profits, it is one of the most important budgets in town. Not only does the House of Care provide a home where the residents are treated with dignity, but from a purely economic perspective, the community gains from keeping the House of Care going. It is less expensive for the community to support the House of Care than it would be to provide other housing for these individuals.

Support from local civic groups, religious groups, and individual private donors is vital in being able to continue to care for our residents. We invite you to consider a gift in support of the House of Care, and help us to continue to serve the “Adams” of our community. By contributing to House of Care, you also help support individuals who often worked and contributed to our communities until finding themselves without options at a very vulnerable time in their lives. *The resident’s name in this story has been changed in respect for his privacy and in compliance with HIPAA laws.

Donations may be sent to: The House of Care, 515 West Beaver Avenue, State College, PA 16801, or made online at houseofcare.org.

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Jana Marie Foundation Memories of my sister, Jana, still dance in my head. Her long brown hair flowing behind her as she walked, late-night talks about nonsense, and her undeniable desire to help others. There is no shortage of positive, happy memories.

There also is no shortage of difficult memories. Despite being surrounded by love from her family and friends, a darkness loomed inside her — a side she tried to hide under many layers of masks.

Mental and emotional health are as important as physical well-being, yet stigma and shame make them taboo to discuss. That is why the Jana Marie Foundation’s mission is to increase protective factors for young people and raise awareness for mental wellness and suicide prevention. Since our inception five years ago, Jana Marie Foundation has empowered young people, especially young women, to make positive choices, practice self-respect, and maintain healthy relationships.

Studies have shown that creative endeavors promote dialogue, reduce stress and anxiety, increase self-awareness, and improve overall mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Jana Marie Foundation creates unique programming where young people can pursue their creative passions, release their feelings, and learn healthy ways to cope with the tough transitional years.

Today’s middle and high school students face growing social pressures including bullying, drugs and alcohol, sex, self-harming, anxiety, and depression. Well-informed parents and caregivers are the first line of defense, but too often they don’t know where to find resources and information to help their children. The Foundation provides access to sources of information, and support and assistance through programs like our webbased Candid Conversations videos.

At a time when local teens are reporting stress and anxiety levels higher than the statewide average, it’s crucial that we light the way toward hope, healing, and personal growth. By raising awareness of mental and emotional health issues, making resources available to parents, providing unique programming for youth, and demonstrating that no one is alone in their personal struggle, we can enhance the overall mental and emotional health of our entire community. We invite you to join our cause.

JanaMarieFoundation.org Facebook.com/JanaMarieFoundation StompersProject.org

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Pets Come First 2451 General Potter Highway Centre Hall, PA 16828 (814) 364-1725 www.petscomefirst.net We are also on Facebook!

Pets Come First, Inc. is a non-euthanasia organization strongly committed to our mission of facilitating the placement of stray and unwanted animals into loving homes. We work in partnership with other rescues, local and state police, Humane Officers, Dog Law Enforcement Officers, and community members to fulfill this mission. Educating our community on responsible pet ownership and sponsoring low cost spay and neuter options will decrease the number of surrendered and unwanted animals to area shelters and rescue groups.

Pets Come First was founded in 2005 with a mission of working with the local PSPCA shelter to reduce their euthanasia rate from 87% to no-kill. In 2012 PCF took over running the shelter, and after a successful 3 years PCF officially took ownership of the property and buildings in 2015. To further the mission of supporting community spay and neuter, PCF partnered with the Animal Welfare Council in 2015 to provide low cost spay and neuter clinics on site. Spay and neuter vouchers can be purchased at the shelter, or the PCF website at www.petscomefirst.net. Adoptions continue to increase each year with over 450 animals finding their new forever homes in 2016 – and we are on our way to surpass that in 2017! This growth would not be possible without the fantastic staff, volunteers, and relationships that PCF has formed with other rescues, businesses, and people in the community. If you are an animal lover and want to help – please consider donating money, materials, or your time to make a difference in a shelter animal’s life.

Dusty, Buddy, Max & Willie

The patricia kittens waiting for a home

sponsored by: www.royalpetresort.com 78 - Special Section

designersdenn.com

At Schlow Centre Region Library you can Read It Your Way!

Schlow Library is home to more than 150,000 items, and a Schlow Library card gives you access to all of them!

Want the newest books but think they’ll all be checked out?

Copies of some of the hottest best sellers are available immediately in our lobby — Lucky Day Books! No waiting!

Read on the run? We have nearly 15,000 eBooks and more than 3,000 eAudiobooks in our collection! You can download these materials onto your own device from our Web site — schlowlibrary.org.

Involved in a book club? We have book-discussion kits for book clubs for more than 70 titles! Each kit has multiple copies of the book and a discussion guide. You also can learn or improve your English with these kits. They have the text and audio for young adult books, so you can read along with the recording.

The possibilities are endless with a Schlow Library card! If you don’t have one, you can sign up either online or at the library, and you’ll soon find out all the ways you can Read It Your Way at Schlow!

211 South Allen Street, State College (814) 237- 6236 schlowlibrary.org Special Section - 79

Sight - Loss Support Group of Central PA The number of individuals with sight loss is projected to rise as much as 72 percent by 2030, when the last of the baby boomers turn 65, according to a 2012 report by the National Institutes of Health. The most common conditions causing vision loss are macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, cataract, and hereditary diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa.

The Sight-Loss Support Group of Central Pennsylvania offers hope and support to individuals as they adjust to the physical and emotional challenges of vision loss and develop strategies to regain independence. The organization provides a gateway to information and a strong community of people who help each other answer the question, “What do I do now?” Among the Sight-Loss Support Group’s programs and services are: •One-on-one peer counseling and support •Monthly lunch support group meeting •Educational programs for community organizations •Referrals to the Pennsylvania Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services and North Central Sight Services •Information on many topics of concern to individuals with sight loss and their families •Audio description via headphones for local theatrical performances and exhibits •Trained Festival Eyes guides for local arts festivals •Collect and re-distribute visual aid equipment and supplies.

Healthy Vision: Make It Last a Lifetime

Taking care of your eyes should be a priority, just like eating healthful food and exercising.

Healthy vision can be yours well into your golden years. To keep your eyes healthy, get a comprehensive dilated eye exam. An eye care professional will use drops to widen your pupils to check for common vision problems and eye diseases. It’s the best way to find out if you need glasses or contacts, or are in the early stages of an eye-related disease.

If you haven’t had an eye exam recently, schedule one now!

Festival Eyes at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts Children’s Day

Sight-Loss Support Group of Central Pennsylvania PO Box 782, Lemont, PA 16851 (814) 238-0132 · www.slsg.org

Sponsored by Lions Gate Apartments Stephen Barkin Ruth Gundlach, Manager 80 - Special Section

State College Food Bank | Filling a Critical Need The State College Food Bank serves as a critical resource to families in need.

2016 By the Numbers: How We Helped

Abou t Our Clients Average Monthly Household Income

3,868

Unique distributions

1,693

716

36.6%

Unique Unique households individuals served served

30.1% 19.9% 11.1%

333

Children served through 2016 Kids Bag Program

Of people we fed‌ 32.3% Under age 18

17.9% Age 60+

Kids Bags distributed

12

Tons of food re-distributed to other Centre County food pantries and social service agencies

Dona tions 373,773

Pounds of food donated

2.0%

572

$0 -$499

$500 $999

$1000 $1,499

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participant?

$1500 $2499

$2500 $3499

28% No

72% Yes

Volunteers 311,477

Meals made possible thanks to these donations

100

Weekly volunteers

12,000

Volunteer hours contributed in 2016

1321 South Atherton Street State College, PAÂ 16801 814-234-2310 www.scfoodbank.org 82 - Special Section

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Skills of Central Pennsylvania Skills of Central Pennsylvania, Inc. is a non-profit organization supporting people with intellectual disabilities or a behavioral health diagnosis. Beginning in Bellefonte in 1960, Skills services now span 17 counties, providing supports and Benner Pike care to an estimated 1,100 people.

As programs have expanded and the number of people supported has increased, our physical site needs have also changed. As a result, three Centre County programs have recently changed their physical location.

• The Philipsburg Psychiatric Rehabilitation program has moved to a newly renovated building located in Phillipsburg at 500 North Center Street.

• The Residential Services Administrative Office as well as the Vocational Training Program will be relocating to a new building located at 1225 Benner Pike, State College.

Additionally, Skills has a new President/CEO. Ms. Rebecca Aungst officially took the helm of Skills in October of 2016. She is a veteran employee at Skills with 29 years of experience with the organization. Her goal for Skills is to maintain our historic quality of care and continue to expand and diversify the organization both geographically and in terms of services. As part of the effort to expand, Skills has recently gone through a rebranding and now has a Rebecca new logo and tag line which Ms. Aungst believes truly represents the Aungst - CEO focus of the organization.....”enhancing lives together”.

As part of our commitment to this focus, we also reflect upon our many community members, donors, volunteers, families, local legislators and staff that have helped us be successful in our mission over the years. We take this opportunity to extend our gratitude for their ongoing support and service. We could not have achieved our goals without each and every one of you.

If you wish to be a volunteer, make a donation or are seeking employment, please see the information below. We would love to have you be a part of our journey.

Philipsburg www.skillsofcentralpa.org Corporate Phone: (814) 238-3245 Corporate office: 341 Science Park Road, State College, PA 16803 facebook.com/skillsofcentralpa Twitter: @SkillsPA 86 - Special Section

52 - Special Section

52 - Special Section

Bryce Jordan Center / Medlar Field at Lubrano Park

Patrick Mansell/Penn State University

August

1 Spikes vs. Auburn Medlar Field at Lubrano Park Noon 8-10 Spikes vs. Hudson Valley Medlar Field at Lubrano Park 7:05 p.m.

11-13 Spikes vs. Vermont Medlar Field at Lubrano Park 7:05 p.m. Fri. & Sat., 6:05 p.m. Sun. 12 Penn State Summer Commencement Bryce Jordan Center TBA 22-24 Spikes vs. West Virginia Medlar Field at Lubrano Park 7:05 p.m.

25-27 Spikes vs. Williamsport Medlar Field at Lubrano Park 7:05 p.m. Fri. & Sat., 6:05 p.m. Sun.

90 - T&G August 2017

T& G

August

what's happening

11-12

4 The State Theatre features An Intimate Evening of Songs and Stories with Graham Nash, who’s in both the Rock ’n’ Roll and Songwriters halls of fame.

15-17

Ag Progress Days show off the latest Penn State research at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center in Pennsylvania Furnace.

Penn State sports teams are beginning to swing back into action this month, led by the defending Big Ten co-champion women’s soccer squad, which opens against BYU.

The Bellefonte Arts and Crafts Fair takes over Talleyrand Park, featuring works from more than 100 artists.

12

It’s a craft beer lover’s dream: the State College Brew Expo returns to Tussey Mountain, benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer of Penn State.

18

One of the signature events of the year locally, the 143rd annual Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair features an array of exhibits, food, and entertainment, including Chris Lane on August 25.

To have an event listed in “What’s Happening,” e-mail mbrackenbury@barashmedia.com

18-26 2017 August T&G - 91

Children & Families 1 – M.A.T.T.H., Schlow Centre Region Library, SC, 1:30 and 2:30 p.m., schlowlibrary.org 2 – Read It, Watch It! – Princess Bride, State Theatre, SC, noon, thestatetheatre.org 3 – Preschool Pizza Party, Schlow Centre Region Library, SC, 1 p.m., schlowlibrary.org 5, 12, 19, 26 – Saturday Stories Alive, Schlow Centre Region Library, SC, 11 a.m., schlowlibrary.org 7, 14, 21, 28 – Monday Movies, State Theatre, SC, 1, 4 and 7:30 p.m., thestatetheatre.org 8 – Teen Summer Reading Pizza Party, Schlow Centre Region Library, SC, 5 p.m., schlowlibrary.org 9 – Love on a Leash, Schlow Centre Region Library, SC, 2:30 p.m., schlowlibrary.org 9 – Read It, Watch It! – Herbie Goes Bananas, State Theatre, SC, noon, thestatetheatre.org 10 – School-Age Pizza Party, Schlow Centre Region Library, SC, 1:30 and 3 p.m., schlowlibrary.org

12 – Kids Day III: Dress Up and Discover, Pennsylvania Military Museum, Boalsburg, 10 a.m., pamilmuseum.org 16 – Read It, Watch It! – Karate Kid, State Theatre, SC, noon, thestatetheatre.org 19 – Author Skype with Jeff Garvin, Schlow Centre Region Library, SC, 3:30 p.m., schlowlibrary.org

Class & Lectures 1 – Central PA Civil War Round Table: “Kill Jeff Davis,” Pennsylvania Military Museum, Boalsburg, 7 p.m., pamilmuseum.org 2 – Richard Koontz Memorial Lecture Series: “Reflections on My Experiences During WWII in Germany,” Pennsylvania Military Museum, Boalsburg, 7 p.m., pamilmuseum.org 13 – Hamer Sculpture Garden, PSU, 2 p.m., palmermuseum.psu.edu

Club Events 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 – State College Downtown Rotary, Ramada Inn & Conference Center, SC, noon, centrecounty.org/rotary/club 2, 16 – Outreach Toastmasters, The 329 Building, Room 413, PSU, noon, kbs131@psu.edu 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 – Comics Club, Schlow Centre Region Library, SC, 3:30 p.m., schlowlibrary.org 5, 12, 19, 26 – Chess Club, Schlow Centre Region Library, SC, 2 p.m., schlowlibrary.org 8 – Women’s Club Mid-Day Connection, Mountain View Country Club, Boalsburg, 11:45 a.m., 404-3704 9 – 148th PA Volunteer Infantry Civil War Reenactment Group, Hoss’s Steak and Sea House, SC, 7 p.m., 861-0770 12 – Boardgaming Meetup, Schlow Centre Region Library, SC, 10 a.m., schlowlibrary.org 15 – Adult Evening Book Club, Schlow Centre Region Library, SC, 6:30 p.m., schlowlibrary.org 16 – CR Active Adult Center Book Club, Schlow Centre Region Library, SC, 12:15 p.m., schlowlibrary.org 21 – Parrots Owners Group, Perkins, SC, 7 p.m., 237-2722

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23 –Adult Afternoon Book Club, Schlow Centre Region Library, SC, 2 p.m., schlowlibrary.org

4-27 – Marty Edmunds in the Sieg Gallery, Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County, Bellefonte, noon-4:30 p.m., Fri.-Sun., bellefontemuseum.org 4-27 – Heidi Urbanski in the Jewelry Gallery, Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County, Bellefonte, noon-4:30 p.m., Fri.-Sun., bellefontemuseum.org

Community Associations & Development 15 – Spring Creek Watershed Association, Patton Township Municipal Building, SC, 7:30 a.m., springcreekwatershed.org 23 – Patton Township Business Association, Patton Township Municipal Building, SC, noon, 237-2822

Exhibits 4-27 – Janise Heverly and Seth Young in the Print Gallery, Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County, Bellefonte, noon-4:30 p.m., Fri.-Sun., bellefontemuseum.org 4-September 24 –Saddle Up: Art and Artifacts of the Old West, Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County, Bellefonte, noon4:30 p.m., Fri.-Sun., bellefontemuseum.org 4-27 – Dotty Ford, Cheri Harte, Chris Hill & Sami Sharkey in the Tea Room Gallery, Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County, Bellefonte, noon-4:30 p.m., Fri.-Sun., bellefontemuseum.org 4-27 – Dave Hammaker in the Photography Gallery, Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County, Bellefonte, noon4:30 p.m., Fri.-Sun., bellefontemuseum.org 4-27 – Lynn Anne Verbeck in the Community Gallery, Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County, Bellefonte, noon-4:30 p.m., Fri.-Sun., bellefontemuseum.org

Health Care 1, 15 – Learn about Hip or Knee Replacement – “A Joint Venture,” Mount Nittany Medical Center, SC, 11 a.m., mountnittany.org/events 2 – Breast Cancer Support Group, Mount Nittany Medical Center, SC, 5:30 p.m., mountnittany.org/events 4, 8 – Alzheimer’s/Dementia Support Groups, Mount Nittany Dining Room at The Inn, 1 and 6:30 p.m., 231-3141 9 – Fertility Issues and Loss Support Group, Choices, SC, 6 p.m., heartofcpa.org 10 – Diabetes Support Group, Mount Nittany Medical Center, SC, 6 p.m., 231-7095 10 – Free parents-to-be class, Mount Nittany Medical Center, SC, 7 p.m., 231-7921 16 – Basic Life Support (BLS) - Provider, Mount Nittany Medical Center, SC, 7:30 a.m., 231-7174 17 – Family Medicine Seminar — POLSTs, Living Wills, POAs, and Pennsylvania Law: Interpreting Advance Care Documentation in the Acute Setting, Mount Nittany Medical Center, SC, 6:30 p.m., 234-6738 21 – Cancer Survivors’ Association, Pink Zone Resource Center in the Cancer Pavilion at Mount Nittany Medical Center, SC, 11:30 a.m., 238-6220

Fall 2017

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2017 August T&G - 93

Make Thursday Your Day

27 – Neuropathy Support Group of Central PA, Mount Nittany Medical Center, SC, 2 p.m., 531-1024 31 – Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) – Renewal, Mount Nittany Medical Center, SC, 7:30 a.m., 231-7174 31 – Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) – Provider, Mount Nittany Medical Center, SC, 10 a.m., 231-7174

to pick up The Centre County Gazette

Music 4 – An Intimate Evening of Songs and Stories with Graham Nash, State Theatre, SC, 8 p.m., thestatetheatre.org 4, 11, 18, 25 – Friday Night Live Music, Happy Valley Vineyard & Winery, 6 p.m., thehappyvalleywinery.com 4, 11, 18, 25 – Concerts on the Village Green, Lemont, 7:30 p.m., lemontvillage.org 6 – Music Under the Sycamore, Centre Furnace Mansion, SC, 4 p.m., centrehistory.org 6, 13 – Summer Sounds from The Gazebo, Talleyrand Park, Bellefonte, 7 p.m., bellefontearts.org

We cover what’s important to you!

(814) 238-5051 • www.CentreCountyGazette.com

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6, 13, 20, 27 – South Hills School of Music Picnic Series, South Hills School, SC, 6 p.m., southhills.edu 23 – Chris Robinson Brotherhood, State Theatre, SC, 8 p.m., thestatetheatre.org

Special Events 1 – Beatlemania, Old Main Lawn, PSU, 7 p.m., downtownstatecollege.com 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 – Boalsburg Farmers Market, PA Military Museum parking lot, Boalsburg, 2 p.m., visitpennstate.org 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 – Tuesday State College Farmers Market, Locust Lane, SC, 11:30 a.m., visitpennstate.org 2 – Centre Outdoors Guided Adventures: Millbrook Marsh Nature Center, Millbrook Marsh Nature Center, SC, 6 p.m., centredoutdoors.org 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 – Lemont Farmers Market, Granary in Lemont, 2 p.m., visitpennstate.org 3, 10, 17 – Wing Fest, Tussey Mountain, Boalsburg, 5:30 p.m., tusseymountain.com

4 – First Friday, Downtown State College, 5 p.m., downtownstatecollege.com 4, 11, 18, 25 – Downtown State College Farmers Markets, Locust Lane, SC, 11:30 a.m., visitpennstate.org 5 – 4th Annual Tent Sale – A Basket Full, Boalsburg, 10 a.m., basket-full.com 5 – Boot Camp for Kids, Pennsylvania Military Museum, Boalsburg, 10 a.m., pamilmuseum.org 5, 12, 19, 26 – Sampling Saturday, Tait Farm Harvest Shop, Centre Hall, 2 p.m., taitfarmfoods.com 5 – Sidewalk Sale, Downtown State College, 9 a.m., downtownstatecollege.com 5, 12, 19, 26 – Bellefonte Farmers Market, Gamble Mill parking lot, Bellefonte, 8 a.m., visitpennstate.org 5, 12, 19, 26 – Millheim Farmers Market, Hosterman & Stover Hardware Store, Millheim, 10 a.m., visitpennstate.org 5, 12, 19, 26 – North Atherton Farmers Market, SC Home Depot parking lot, 10 a.m., visitpennstate.org

2017 August T&G - 95

6, 9 – Centred Outdoors Guided Adventures: The Arboretum at Penn State, The Arboretum at Penn State, 2 p.m.

August 6, 6 p.m. August 9, centredoutdoors.org 11-12 – Bellefonte Arts & Crafts Fair, Talleyrand Park, Bellefonte, 10 a.m., bellefontefair.org 12 – Penn State graduation, Bryce Jordan Center, PSU, various times, commencement.psu.edu 12 – State College Brew Expo 2017, Tussey Mountain Amphitheater, Boalsburg, 5 p.m., tusseymountain.com 12 – 27th annual Mount Nittany Health Foundation Golf Classic, Penn State Golf Courses, SC, 9:30 a.m., mountnittany.org/events 13, 16 – Centred Outdoors Guided Adventures: Mount Nittany, Mount Nittany, Boalsburg, 2 p.m. August 13, 6 p.m. August 16, centredoutdoors.org 15-17 – Ag Progress Days, Rock Springs, 9 a.m., agsci.psu.edu/apd 18-26 – Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair, Grange Fair Grounds, Centre Hall, all day, grangefair.com

19 – Pixie Dust Wishes Race to Neverland, Tudek Park, SC, 8 a.m., runsignup.com/Race/PA/StateCollege/ PixieDustWishesRacetoNeverland 26 – Garage Sale, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, SC, 8 a.m., stpaulsc.org/garage-sale 27 – Boogersburg School Open House, Boogerburg School, SC, 1 p.m., centrehistory.org 28-31 – Flying Legends of Victory Tour Featuring the B-17 Bomber “Sentimental Journey,” University Park Airport, flyinglegendstour.com

Sports (See State College Spikes schedule on page 90) 5 – PSU/Syracuse, women’s soccer (exhibition), Jeffrey Field, 1 p.m., gopsusports.com 12 – PSU/St. John’s, women’s soccer (exhibition), Jeffrey Field, 2 p.m., gopsusports.com 15 – PSU/James Madison, field hockey (exhibition), Field Hockey Complex, 1 p.m., gopsusports.com

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T& G

on tap

‘Sours are the new IPA’ State College Brew Expo highlights ever-growing variety of craft beers

By David Pencek

year, continues to be one of the more popular summer events in Happy Valley and offers one of the best settings for a beer festival. It also helps a great cause, raising money for Coaches vs. Cancer of Penn State — hence the slogan, “Good Beer, Good Music, Great Cause!”

This year’s expo is 5 to 9 p.m.

August 12. As usual, there will be 40 to 50 breweries represented. Holy Ghost Tent Revival, the North Carolina-based rock band, headlines the music with Mama Corn opening.

Martin says the expo also will feature a few seminars and more food trucks.

But, as always, the focus is on the beer.

“We have a nice mix between local and Pennsylvania brewers and some national ones,” Martin says.

“Pennsylvania has become a hotbed for craft beer.”

According to the Brewers Association, there are 136 craft breweries in Pennsylvania that produce more than 4 million barrels of beer

Visit your local beer distributor — or, these days, any grocery store or convenience store that sells beer — and the shelves are stocked with more different beers from more different breweries than one could ever have imagined.

The craft-beer industry continues to grow, which has surprised Michael Martin.

“I’ve been saying this for a few years that there’s going to be that tipping point. There’s going to be a breaking point,” says Martin, who along with his wife, Malissa, has run the State College Brew Expo for nine years. “It hasn’t necessarily happened yet. I don’t know when it will happen. I kind of expected it to happen by now.”

Do a Google search of craft-beer stories and you’ll come across headlines such as “Local hops growers help Virginia brew a booming craft-beer industry,” and “Craft beer company in Michigan to spend $7 million on projects.”

Even some universities are getting in on the act. In June, Penn State announced how its research in malting barley aims to support the craft-beer industry.

The industry continues to grow, and to go with all the beers and breweries, there has been an obvious increase in beer events and festivals.

“There are so many festivals now. Tyrone has a festival now,” Martin says. “It used to be that [the State College Brew Expo] was a destination.

People would come from Philadelphia, New York, DC, all over and make a weekend out of it. We’re not seeing that as much because all those cities have their own event.”

Still, held at Tussey Mountain, the State College The State College Brew Expo at Tussey Mountain, now in its 19th year, is one of the more popular summer events in Happy Valley.

Brew Expo, now in its 19th 100 - T&G August 2017

There will be 40 to 50 breweries represented at the State College Brew Expo on August 12.

each year. It is estimated that the economic impact on the state is $4.48 billion, the second largest in the country.

Centre County of course has Elk Creek, Happy Valley Brewing Company, Otto’s, and Robin Hood Brewing Company, all of which are participating in the expo. New to the area and the expo is Blue Stripe, made by Rod Stahl of Boalsburg.

Other Pennsylvania breweries that will be at the expo include Troegs, Yards, Neshaminy Creek, Rusty Rail, Marzoni’s, and Levity. Some non-Pennsylvania breweries scheduled to participate include Great Lakes (Cleveland), Avery Brewing (Boulder, Colorado), Flying Dog (Frederick, Maryland), and North Coast (Fort Bragg, California).

When it comes to types of beers, sours are what’s hot, according to Martin.

“IPAs are still crazy, but sours are huge right now,” he says. “Sours are the new IPA. … And the ABVs on sours is really low, so you can drink something all day long and it’s not a 10-percent IPA.” Within the IPA community, Vermont styles are becoming more popular, according to Martin.

Another trend he’s noticed is how the traditional beers that breweries make aren’t selling as much because people want to continue to try new brews. He says a main reason for that can be linked to the Untappd app, which, among other things, rewards users with badges for the number of different beers they try.

“It’s not about, ‘I really enjoy this beer. I want more of these.’ It’s, ‘Oh, I haven’t had this yet and I need to check it off,’ ” he says. “You’re missing the point [if you do that]. This is a world-class beer, whatever it is. It doesn’t matter if you’ve already had it. You should have it more than once.

It’s a great beer. … I think it’s hurting the industry, not helping it.

“What brewers call their core products aren’t selling. They usually have a traditional lineup of a brown ale, a wheat beer, an IPA, and a pilsner.

The only one selling is their IPA and maybe their wheat beer in the summer.”

Despite some of the increasing challenges with putting on the State College Brew Expo, Martin looks forward to it each August, and he hopes the event can continue to raise more money for Coaches vs. Cancer of Penn State.

“I want to keep this going and we continue to think of how we can make it better,” he says.

“It’s a fun way to drink and try beers. … It’s good exposure for the breweries, especially the little guys. It’s good for everybody. People come up to me every year and say it’s the one festival they always want to try and come to.” T&G For more information about State College Brew Expo, visit statecollegebrewexpo.com.

David Pencek is former editorial director of Town&Gown.

2017 August T&G - 101

T & G

Taste of the Month

Summer Bounty Barrie and Mandy Moser harvest happiness

By Vilma Shu Danz Photos by Darren Andrew Weimert

102 - T&G August 2017

Mandy Moser displays tomatoes at the Downtown State College Farmers Market.

Better known to locals as the “Tomato Man” at the Downtown State College Farmers Market on Tuesdays and Fridays, it’s hard to miss Barrie Moser’s vegetable truck with the name Moser’s Garden Produce handpainted across the side.

Moser’s motto is, “if we don’t grow it, we don’t sell it.”

“We initially started in 1976 with a half-acregarden, a few dozen fruit trees, and some grapevines,” explains Moser. “Over the years, we have expanded to farm about 6-and-a-half acres, and put up four high tunnels (greenhouses) where we grow our heirloom tomatoes, peppers, and herbs. We have also planted more than 100 apple trees as well as some pear, plum, and peach trees.”

Originally from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania,

both his grandfather and father were dairy farmers; so naturally, Moser came to Penn State to pursue a degree in animal science and a master’s degree in dairy nutrition. After graduation, he worked at Penn State in dairy ration formulations

and soil testing for 35 years, retiring in 2008. In addition to his job at the university, in the early years of Moser’s Garden Produce, Barrie and his wife, Mandy, would plant and farm their property in Centre Hall, picking produce at night to sell at the market 2017 August T&G - 103

on Tuesday and Saturday mornings in Bellefonte. There is nothing Barrie Moser If you have never had an heirloom tomato, you would rather do are missing out. Just one taste and you are instantly than get out on hooked. Out of his inventory of 320 different his land. tomato seeds, Moser is growing more than 200 varieties this year. He has a remarkable memory and knowledge about his tomatoes, describing each one in great detail, noting their individual size, color, and taste.

“We started growing heirloom tomatoes that we purchased from seed from places like Sand Hill Preservation and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in 1997. In the beginning, we had 30 varieties and it went wild!” says Moser. “Before the tomatoes, we were known as the ‘Pepper People’ and we still grow 60 varieties of peppers and many varieties that you won’t find anywhere else.”

In addition to bell and sweet peppers, Moser grows jalapeños, to Guinness World Records is habaneros, serranos, and other super-hot peppers such as ghost the hottest chili in the world. peppers, Trinidad scorpions, and Carolina reapers, which according “I have customers who will buy these hot peppers by the bushels,” he says.

Moser is one of the few farmers in Centre County who grows heirloom tomatoes and vegetables. Heirlooms are openpollinated varieties introduced before 1940, or tomato varieties that are more than 50 years in circulation. Heirloom tomatoes have an incomparable eating quality and flavor that surpasses many modern varieties, but they require more attention from the grower, and are typically lower yielding than modern hybrids.

The thin skin that contributes to their fine eating quality can also predispose them to being 104 - T&G August 2017

Moser delivers his garden bounty to the farmers market on Locust Lane.

damaged more easily than thicker-skinned varieties.

Some of the most famous heirloom tomato varieties that Moser grows include Brandywine, Green Zebra, Yellow Pear, Hillbilly, Cherokee Purple, Hawaiian Pineapple, Big Rainbow, and Chocolate Cherry. For home gardeners who

want to grow his heirloom tomatoes and other vegetables, his plants are available for purchase at the farmers market.

It’s truly a labor of love for the Mosers.

Barrie, 67, begins germinating the seeds indoors in February and transplanting them in his high tunnels by early April.

“Peppers take anywhere from 110 to 120 days to mature, but they grow differently in a high tunnel, sometimes up to 6 feet or more tall and are loaded with peppers,” says Moser. “So, we start our peppers when it’s frigid outside and heat our high tunnels with a wood burner. I have to go out a few times a night to put more wood in them.”

Fans are also installed in the high tunnels to circulate the inside air and to exhaust the hot air. Lights are installed as well to enable the Mosers to pick at night before the market.

“When our kids were young, they would help us pick and we grew a lot more produce.

At one point, we had potatoes, beans, and over 2,000 strawberry plants; now we have 225 strawberry plants,” Barrie says.

The Mosers’ kids have all grown up with jobs and busy lives, so all the farming and picking is now done by Barrie and Mandy. Somehow, they find the time to plant 60 varieties of peppers, 200 varieties of tomatoes, not to mention herbs, lettuce, cucumber, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, and squash.

They also make berry jellies and fresh-pressed apple-raspberry cider to sell at the market. During the harvest season, there will be apples, pears, and berries for sale as well. “We have close to 28 varieties of apples, including an heirloom variety called Smokehouse that just has amazing fruity flavor, but I am really 2017 August T&G - 105

The Mosers’ table is a popular attraction at the market.

excited for my new Royal Red Honeycrisps that ripens earlier and will have a deep red blush color.”

Over the years, the Mosers have formed close relationships with many of their loyal customers and have been known to grow specific vegetables, like specialty eggplants, for them. “We really enjoy talking to our customers and many will tell us about different varieties of vegetables that they want us to grow, and some have even brought us seeds to plant for them.”

Moser’s vegetables have won numerous awards over the years at the Centre County Grange Fair. In 2016, he won first place in 31 vegetable categories, including for nine of his peppers and three of his tomatoes. His tomatoes have also won Best of Show for three years at the Grange Fair.

There is nothing in the world Moser would rather do than get out on his land, pick his blueberries and other crops, all the while listening to the birds. “Time flies when I am out here picking. One early morning, I came out here to pick and before I knew it, my wife came down and

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106 - T&G August 2017

said, ‘It’s 3 o’clock, Barrie, do you want to eat something?’ I enjoy it very much!” he says with a chuckle.

Stop every Tuesday and Friday at the Downtown State College Farmers Market on Locust Lane from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It’s not uncommon to find a huge crowd in front of the giant table filled with tomatoes of all colors.

Check out for yourself all the wonderful vegetables Barrie and Mandy Moser have picked fresh the night before! T&G To get Moser’s recipe for tomato dumplings, go to townandgown.com. For more information about Moser’s Garden Produce, visit moserproduce.com.

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Dr. Tracy Sepich, Dr. Christine Zlupko, Optometrists, and their team of experienced professionals!

100 Oakwood Ave., State College, PA 16803 (814) 272-0262 • www.restoreeyecare.com 2017 August T&G - 107

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dining out

All restaurants are in State College or on the Penn State campus, and in the 814 area code unless noted.

Full Course Dining bar bleu, 114 S. Garner St., 237-0374, bar-bleu.com. Socializing and sports viewing awaits at bar bleu. Don’t miss a minute of the action on 22 true 1080i HDMI high-definition flat-screen monitors displaying the night’s college and pro matchups. The bar serves up 16 draft beers in addition to crafted cocktails, including the “Fishbowl,” concocted in its own 43-ounce tank! Pub fare featuring authentic Kansas Citystyle barbecue is smoked daily on-site. AE, D, DC, ID+, MC, V. Full bar.

Barrel 21 Distillery & Dining, 2255 N. Atherton St., 308-9522, barrel21distillery .com. Barrel 21 offers a unique gastro-distillery dining experience that features our one of a kind spirits and beer which are made on premise. Our menu of rotating seasonal items blends classic dishes with current trends to deliver new and interesting presentations for our guests to enjoy. Sunday brunch is a favorite with madeto-order omelets, Bloody Mary bar, and full buffet, including Irving’s bagels, house-made pastries, and much more. Happy Hour is from 4 to 6 p.m.Tuesday through Friday, featuring half-price Barrel 21 spirits and Otto’s beer. Our tasting room also is open if you would like to take a bottle home with you, and our private dining room is available for your special event. We look forward to seeing you at Barrel 21!

Carnegie Inn & Spa Restaurant, 100 Cricklewood Drive, 234-2424. An exquisite boutique hotel offering fine dining in a relaxed yet gracious atmosphere. Your dining experience begins with a wide array of appetizers and entrees that compare to the best restaurants of the largest cities in the United States. Additionally, the Carnegie Inn & Spa Restaurant wine list is one of the best in the area and features a wide variety of wines from California, France, and other countries.

Reservations suggested. AE, MC, D, V. Full bar.

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Cozy Thai Bistro, 232 S. Allen St., 237-0139. A true authentic Thai restaurant offering casual and yet “cozy” family-friendly dining experience. Menu features wide selections of exotic Thai cuisine, both lunch and dinner (take-out available). BYO (wines and beer) is welcome after 5 p.m. AE, D, DC, MAC, MC, V. The Deli Restaurant, 113 Hiester St., 2375710, The DeliRestaurant.com. Since 1973, The Deli has served up New York-style deli favorites on an American menu offering everything from comfort food to pub favorites, all made from scratch. Soups, breads, sauces, and awardwinning desserts are homemade here early in the morning folks. Look for its rotating menu of food- themed festivals throughout the year. AE, D, DC, LC, MC, V. Full bar.

The Dining Room at the Nittany Lion Inn, 200 W. Park Ave., 865-8590. Fine continental cuisine in a relaxed, gracious atmosphere. Casual attire acceptable. Private dining rooms available.

AE, D, DC, MAC, MC, V. Full bar.

Duffy’s Boalsburg Tavern, On the Diamond, Boalsburg, 466-6241. The Boalsburg Tavern offers a fine, intimate setting reminiscent of Colonial times.

Dining for all occasions with formal and casual menus, daily dinner features, specials, and plenty of free parking. AE, MC, V. Full bar.

Key AE............................................................American Express CB ...................................................................Carte Blanche D ................................................................. Discover/Novus DC.........................................................................Diners Club ID+ ................................................ PSU ID+ card discounts LC............................................................................. LionCash MAC........................................................................debit card MC........................................................................MasterCard V.......................................................................................... Visa ............................................... Handicapped-accessible

To advertise, call Town&Gown account executives Nicohl Gezvain or Debbie Markel at (814) 238-5051.

Faccia Luna Pizzeria, 1229 S. Atherton St., 234-9000, faccialuna.com. A true neighborhood hangout, famous for authentic New York-style wood-fired pizzas and fresh, homemade Italian cuisine. Seafood specialties, sumptuous salads, divine desserts, great service, and full bar.

Outside seating available. Sorry, reservations not accepted. Dine-in, Take out. MC/V. Galanga, 454 E. College Ave., 237-1718. Another great addition to Cozy Thai Bistro. Galanga by Cozy Thai offers a unique authentic Thai food featuring Northeastern Thai-style cuisine. Vegetarian menu selection available. BYO (wines and beer) is welcome after 5 p.m. AE, D, DC, MAC, MC, V. The Gardens Restaurant at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, 215 Innovation Blvd., Innovation Park, 863-5090. Dining is a treat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in The Gardens Restaurant, where sumptuous buffets and à la carte dining are our special- ties. AE, CB, D, DC, MC, V. Full bar, beer.

Gigi’s, W. College Ave, on the corner of Cato Ave., 861-3463, gigisdining.com. Conveniently located 5 minutes from downtown State College, Gigi’s is a farm-to-table dining experience inspired by the hottest southern trends. Outdoor Patio. Lunch & Dinner. Full Bar. AE, D, MAC, MC, V. The Greek, 102 E. Clinton Ave., 308-8822, thegreekrestaurant.net. Located behind The Original Waffle Shop on North Atherton Street. Visit our Greek tavern and enjoy authentic Greek cuisine. From fresh and abundant vegetables to the most succulent kebabs, each dish has been perfected to showcase genuine Greek flavors. When we say “authentic,” we mean it.

Full service, BYOB. D, MC, V. Herwig’s Austrian Bistro, “Where Bacon Is An Herb,” 132 W. College Ave., 272-0738. Located next to the State Theatre. Serving authentic Austrian home cooking in Central PA. Ranked #1 Ethnic Restaurant in State College for 8 years in a row. Eat-in, Take-Out, Catering. Glutenfree options available. Bacon-based dessert.

Homemade breads, BYO beer or wine all day.

Sense of humor required. D, MAC, MC, V.

Check out our new pool tables in our game room!

814.237.6300 • lettermans.net • Lettermans 1031 E. College Avenue • State College, PA 110 - T&G August 2017

Hi-Way Pizza, 1688 N. Atherton St., 237-0375, HiWayPizza.com. The State College tradition for nearly 50 years, nobody does it better than Hi-Way! Offering more than 29 varieties of hand-spun pizzas made from scratch offer an endless combination of toppings. Its vodka “flaky” crust and red stuffed pizzas are simply a must have. Hi-Way’s menu rounds out with pasta dishes, calzones, grinders, salads, and other Italian specialties. Eat-in, take-out, or Hi-Way delivery. AE, D, DC, LC, MC, V. Full bar.

Hoss’s Steak & Sea House, 1454 North Atherton Street, State College, 234-4009, www.hosss.com.

Since 1983, Hoss’s has been providing considerate service, delicious food, and a pleasant environment that brings family and friends together. We offer a variety of steaks, chicken, seafood, burgers, and sandwiches. Hoss’s showcase is our all-you-can-eat Hosspitality Bars — offering fresh salads, soups, breads, and desserts. AE, D, DC, MAC, MC, V Award-winning pizza and Italian Cuisine.

Homemade… with only the best and freshest ingredients.

1229 S. Atherton St., State College

234-9000

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MON. - THUR. 11: 30 -9PM • FRI. - SAT. 11: 30 -10 PM • SUN. 11: 30 - 8PM

2017 August T&G - 111

Inferno Brick Oven & Bar, 340 E. College Ave., 237-5718, InfernoBrickOvenBar.com. With a casual yet sophisticated atmosphere, Inferno is a place to see and be seen. A full-service bar boasts a unique specialty wine, beer, and cocktail menu. Foodies — Inferno offers a contemporary Neapolitan brick-oven experience featuring a focused menu of artisan pizzas and other modern-Italian plates. Lunch and dinner service transi- tions into night as a boutique nightclub with dance- floor lighting, club sound system, and the area’s most talented resident DJs. AE, D, MAC, MC, V. Full bar.

Legends Pub at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, 215 Innovation Blvd., Innovation Park, 863-5080. Unwind with beverages and a casual lounge menu. AE, D, MC, V. Full bar.

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Liberty Craft House, 346 E. College Ave., 954-4923, LibertyCraftHouse.com. A worthy destination inspired by their passion for knowledge, skill, and small-batch artisan goods. Liberty is a humble neighborhood joint with design cues from the industrial revolution that provides a comfortable post for a few drinks, food, and good times. A one-of-a-kind, worldclass digital-menu-driven draft system features nitro-coffee, craft sodas, cocktails, wine, ales, lagers, and hand-pumped cask ale. Specializing in American whiskey, Liberty boasts a bottled beer, wine, mead, cider, and spirits list that would make your buddy jealous. Hungry? Liberty’s menu focuses on small-batch, local, organic, and artisan food made 100 percent in-house, fresh from scratch. Charcuerie, fromage, and flat breads are at the heart of the menu that is complemented by many other classic gastropub favorites.

Open 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m. every day (kitchen ’til midnight). AE, D, MAC, MC, V.

Otto’s Pub & Brewery, 2235 N. Atherton St., 867-6886, ottospubandbrewery.com. State College’s most awarded craft-beer pub and brewery featuring more than a dozen fresh, house-brewed ales and lagers on tap as well as fine, affordably priced, local American food with vegan and vegetarian offerings, a kids’ menu, weekly features, and seasonal menu. Open for lunch and dinner in a family-friendly, casual atmosphere. Barrel 21 craft distilled spirits available. AE, D, MC, V. Full bar.

Philipsburg Elks Lodge & Country Club, 1 Country Club Lane, Philipsburg, 342-0379, philipsburgelks.com. Restaurant open to the public!

Monday-Saturday 11-9, Sunday 9-3. Member-only bar.

New golf-member special, visit our Web site for summer golf special. AE MC, V. Full Bar (members only).

The Tavern Restaurant, 220 E. College Ave., 238-6116. A unique gallery-in-a-restaurant preserving PA’s and Penn State’s past. Dinner at The Tavern is a Penn State tradition. Major credit cards accepted. Full bar.

Whiskers at the Nittany Lion Inn, 200 W. Park Ave., 865-8580. Casual dining featuring soups, salads, sandwiches and University Creamery ice cream. Major credit cards accepted. Full bar.

Visit

Zola Kitchen & Wine Bar, 324 W. College Ave., 237-8474. Zola Kitchen & Wine Bar features ingredient-driven, seasonal, new American cuisine paired with an extensive wine list, certified wine professional, and exceptional service. Zola’s also features a new climate-controlled wine room, premium by-the-glass wine pours, fine liquor, and craft beer at its full-service bar. Serving lunch and dinner seven days a week. Reservations recommended.

Catering. Free parking after 5:30 p.m. AE, D, DC, MAC, MC, V. Full bar.

Good Food Fast Baby’s Burgers & Shakes, 131 S. Garner St., 234-4776, babysburgers.com. Love poodle skirts, a jukebox playing the oldies, and delicious food cooked to order? Then Baby’s Burgers & Shakes is your kind of restaurant! Bring the entire family and enjoy a “Whimpy” burger, a Cherry Coke, or delicious chocolate shake, and top it off with a “Teeny Weeny Sundae” in our authentic 1947 Silk City Diner.

Check out Baby’s Web site for full menu and daily specials! D, MC, V, MAC, Lion’s Cash.

Enjoy Duffy’s

OUTDOOR PATIO

& Wine Selections for All

Fine Dining

Call Duffy’s Tavern for Reservations.

DuffysTavernPA.com 113 East Main Street, Boalsburg PA 16827

Be Sure to Like Us on Facebook 814.466.6241 2017 August T&G - 113

Bagel Crust, 460 Westerly Parkway, 308-9321, bagelcrust.com. Fresh, daily-baked New York style bagels with no artificial ingredients, no oil, no butter, and no cholesterol! Gourmet breakfast and lunch sandwiches with the best cold cuts from Boar’s Head.

Come try our organic coffee blends, organic herbal and black teas, as well as flavored smoothies. Catering is available. AE, MAC, MC, V. Barranquero Café, 324 E. Calder Way, 954-7548, barranquerocafe.com. A locally owned coffee shop specializing in authentic Colombian coffees and specialty drinks. Works closely with its coffee suppliers in Colombia to ensure that it receives only the highest quality coffee beans the region has to offer. Also serves fresh fruit juices, empanadas, and more! Hopes to bring a little piece of Colombia to Happy Valley! Hours: Mon.-Sat. 7a.m.-8p.m., Sun. 10a.m.-8p.m.

Fiddlehead, 134 W. College Ave., 237-0595, fiddleheadstatecollege.com. Fiddlehead is a soup-andsalad café offering soups made from scratch daily. Create your own salad from more than 40 fresh ingredients.

HUB Dining, HUB-Robeson Center on campus, 865-7623. A Penn State tradition open to all! Enjoy 12 different eateries in the HUB-Robeson Center on campus. Jamba Juice, McAlister’s Deli, Starbucks, Chickfil-A, Burger King, Grate Chee, Sbarro, Soup & Garden, Diversions, Blue Burrito, Mixed Greens, Panda Express, and Hibachi-San by Panda.V, MC, LC. Irving’s, 110 E. College Ave., 231-0604, irvingsstatecollege.com. Irving’s is State College’s finest bakery café serving award-winning bagels, espresso, sandwiches, salads, and smoothies.

Meyer Dairy, 2390 S. Atherton St., 237-1849. A State College Classic! Meyer Dairy is the perfect choice for a quick, homemade lunch with fresh soups and sandwiches or treat yourself to your favorite flavor of ice cream or sundae at our ice cream parlor. Fresh milk from our own dairy cows (we do not inject our cows with BST), eggs, cheese, ice cream cakes, baked goods, and more! Plus, Meyer Dairy is the best place to pick up your Town&Gown magazine each month!

Hibachi San, 7 Hetzel Union Building on campus, 8616900. Our Poke bowl is mouthwatering and prepared fresh daily. Create your own Poke bowl with healthy options.

Monday-Thursday: 10-8, Friday: 10-6, Sunday: noon-5.

Taste of

the Month Each month, Town&Gown highlights people who make Centre County a great place for foodies!

Follow us!

114 - T&G August 2017

Panda Express, 7 Hetzel Union Building on campus, 861-6009 & 1870 North Atherton Street, State College, 867-2806. We serve American Asian cuisine; come try our world-famous orange chicken. Atherton open 11-9:30 MondaySaturday, 11-9 Sunday. Campus open 10-9 Monday-Friday, noon-6 Saturday, noon-7 Sunday.

AE, D, ID, MC, V.

Shrimp Pad Thai

Saint’s Café, 123 W. Beaver Ave., 238-5707, statecollegecoffeeshop.com. Established in 1999, we are inspired by travel and a passion for exceptional coffee. Come try our espresso drinks, pour-over coffee, pastries, and free WiFi. Cafe Hours: MondaySaturday: 7 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Specialty Foods Dam Donuts, 216 W. High Street, Bellefonte, 548-7825, damdonuts.com. Locally owned, specialty donut shop. Made-to-order donuts are made daily, right before your eyes! House-blend coffee, cold-brew coffee, and bubble tea also. We offer a variety of frostings and toppings to tickle your taste buds! Also offering call-ahead orders and special occasions orders.

Hours: 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

Tues.-Fri., 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. & saints logo.white2.eps Sun., Closed Mon. AE, D, MC, V. T&G

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lunch with mimi

Science on the Menu As Discovery Space prepares to move to a larger home, Michele Crowl aims to bring STEM learning to the next level

116 - T&G August 2017

Darren Andrew Weimert

Growing up in Hollidaysburg, Michele Crowl was a curious child who asked a lot of questions and had a fascination about how things worked.

While stargazing on the beach with her grandmother, she was baffled by how the moon’s gravitational force affects ocean tides on Earth. It’s no wonder she went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in astrophysics from Penn State in 2004, a master’s degree in informal science learning in 2010 from Oregon State University, and a PhD in science education from Penn State in 2016.

Crowl was the director of education at Discovery Space since Michele Crowl (right), executive director of Discovery Space, its opening in 2011 and is now the discusses the future of the children’s museum with Town&Gown executive director. Prior to her work founder Mimi Barash Coppersmith at Zola Kitchen & Wine Bar. with Discovery Space, she spent four years running planetarium shows and hands-on programs at a science I moved to Florida and I worked in a museum in Florida. planetarium, doing outreach programs Discovery Space is a nonprofit interactive children’s science museum with schools. I fell in love with the world providing exhibits and hands-on programs designed to provide valuable of museums and the ways they enhance informal education, especially in the areas of Science, Technology, what kids are learning in school.

Engineering, and Math (STEM), in a fun learning environment.

Mimi: Well, you found something In September, Discovery Space is moving from 112 West Foster that helps parents enhance the way that Avenue in downtown State College to a larger property at 1224 North their children grow up.

Atherton Street. Town&Gown founder Mimi Barash Coppersmith Michele: Yeah and it teaches parents sat down with Crowl at Zola Kitchen & Wine Bar to discuss the sometimes too. expansion of Discovery Space and what new exhibits and programs will Mimi: In a little college town, where be offered to stir the curiosity of children in our area. one would suspect this couldn’t happen Mimi: Tell our readers how you got into this business of because there wouldn’t be enough science museums. interest, how did you and your previous Michele: It was a surprise to me. I did my bachelor’s degree at cohort do that?

Penn State in astrophysics and everyone else was talking about Michele: I moved back here to work going to grad school right after they graduated. At the time, I on my PhD and was so happy to hear didn’t even know why someone would get a master’s or a PhD. In about efforts to get a science museum the program through the astronomy department, there are a lot of open. And so, I met Marty Starling outreach opportunities — summer camps, Astrofest during Arts as soon as I could. She was leading Fest — and so I got involved in a lot of those and realized I could those efforts. It was an interesting mix use astronomy to teach in interesting ways. I also found museums. of community members who were

passionate about having educational opportunities for children during the day, in the summer, and in the evenings. It was truly a community effort to bring all the pieces together.

Mimi: Give me some more of the early names.

Michele: Lloyd Huck, Art Heim, Margaret Roof, Linda Gall, Mark McLaughlin, Jawaid Haider, Donna Conway, Rick Grazzini, Carla Zembal-Saul, and many of our current board members, for starters.

I’m sure I’m missing people and I apologize for that.

There were so many.

Mimi: Linda Gall is always there.

Michele: Yes, we are so fortunate to have her support.

Mimi: Her middle name is service.

Michele: Yes. She’s amazing. She even came to the AAUW book sale with us this year. AAUW supports us so every year on the Monday morning of the sale, we get a group of people together. We invite all the staff and volunteers. We show up in our blue Discovery Space shirts and buy books. I invited Linda Gall to come along and she did. She found some books for her grandkids and some for the museum. It was awesome.

Mimi: Well, that’s wonderful to recycle books. So, do you maintain a library at the museum?

Michele: Yeah, we have books by theme at specific exhibits. So, at the weather exhibit we have a lot of books on weather for different ages of kids.

And then in the nest, for 6 months to 2-year-olds, we have a lot of board books.

Mimi: Now you’re moving to this new space. Care to tell us about that?

Michele: Absolutely. This new space provides us so much opportunity. We can really take what we’re doing to the next level. Some of our exhibits will be the same, but we’ll have a set of new exhibits in there as well.

We’ll have a bigger space for young children, the 2 and under crowd. We’ll have two classrooms instead of one.

We’ve been listening to a lot of what visitors have been saying. What they like and what they want more of, including parking; we’ll have that too.

Mimi: Well, that makes sense. What is the most popular thing in the existing space and how will it change in the new space?

Michele: That’s a really hard question to answer because we have some visitors who come every single week. And we see, for example, we’ve got a group of maybe 3- to 6-year-olds that every time they walk in the building they go to the same set of exhibits.

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For 150 years, the PA Fish & Boat Commission has helped make Centre County and the rest of the state one of the best places to fish in America

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RAMPING Inside: “A New Year, A New You” special section • Strawberry Fields celebrates 45 years

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2017 August T&G - 117

Mimi: Which exhibits would that be?

Michele: There’s a roller-coaster exhibit where you can put the pieces together to build a loop or a turn and then you roll a ball bearing down. It’s hard to say which one is the most popular. The maker space has been really popular because it gives kids a way to craft. They’re given a challenge to design something that floats or spins, and then they’re given recycled materials. Kids walk in, they look at the challenge and the materials, and start building. They don’t hesitate.

Mimi: Who’s the best builder?

Michele: I’d say it starts around 7 years old. They have a grasp on how materials work and what it takes to stick them together and stand them up.

Mimi: Tell me the kinds of new exhibits that will be in the new place.

Michele: We will have a section of the museum that’ll really focus on art and design. That’ll include the maker space, where kids get a chance to innovate and invent. We’ll have an area that’ll let kids explore art and then take what they learn there into the maker space and create art of their own. We’ll have an invention bench that will have tasks that kids can try. And then we’ll have weather exhibits as another central part of the museum.

Mimi: AccuWeather has been an important piece from the beginning.

Michele: They’ve been a partner since the beginning for sure. They will be represented in the space with the exhibits they’ve given to us. Music is another area that’ll be represented well. We’re designing that space now. We have some musical exhibits already. We have a heartbeat drum, for example. You put your hands on the sensor and as soon as it senses your heartbeat, the drum beats at the same rate so kids can do jumping jacks and see that it goes faster. We have an air harp. You can’t see the

118 - T&G August 2017

strings because they’re just made up of light. But, if you put your hands over the sensor you can play the harp.

Mimi: Who do you get to advise you on something like that? I would have absolutely not known where to begin.

Michele: We are lucky because we have a lot of community volunteers and partnerships at Penn State that we can leverage expertise. And then there is a whole field of museums willing to help other museums with ideas and new ways of doing things.

Mimi: To me, you are a person who will make things happen.

Michele: I cannot tell you how much I love watching kids walk in and — they don’t articulate in the same way adults would — but they’re learning from every single thing they do. They walk in and spend about 1 second at 15 exhibits in a row, and then they slow down. So, they look chaotic at first but that’s part of their learning experience.

Mimi: Do they ask a lot of questions?

Michele: They do. But they don’t ask how to do it, they have already figured out in their head how they want to do it.

Mimi: OK, but what are the kinds of questions they ask?

Michele: Sometimes, the best part is watching them ask their parents, maybe they’re building something and giving their parent orders on how to do it and what to try next, which is always exciting. Sometimes, they ask questions that we don’t expect. We have a computer simulation exhibit where you can jump on a planet.

You choose the planet you want to jump on. Jupiter, for example, has a lot of mass and therefore a stronger gravity than Earth. So, even if you jump really high, you don’t go very high. The computer screen shows you jumped really low and really fast. And then shows you what you would’ve jumped over on this planet, like a lady bug, for example. Whereas, Pluto, you can jump over a fire truck.

Mimi: (laughter) So this stirs their curiosity.

Michele: Yeah, to show them different ways of understanding their world.

Mimi: Are there as many girls as boys who come into the Discovery Space?

Michele: Yes, and you know, at times we find that parents are a barrier. We see it often where the parents aren’t sure if their kids will enjoy or can do the science or the engineering. Even in the elementary grades. We offer them a full refund if they try it and don’t like it, but we’ve never had to give a refund. The kids fit right in. Seven-year-olds can be engineers, they can do engineering challenges.

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2017 August T&G - 119

Mimi: Well, also sparking this move was the fact that you were so hidden.

Michele: Yeah. We do love the borough of State College, they have been really kind to us. When we started the search, we looked in the borough first; it just became impossible to find a space that would fit us. So, we will be in Ferguson Township and opening in September.

The bigger space will allow us to accommodate larger groups like our early-childhood programs, for 5-year-olds and under on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday mornings.

We have had 40 kids and parents squished into a room.

They say they don’t mind because they want to be in there doing rhythm activities, making sounds, and keeping a beat with each other.

Mimi: So, most of your people are volunteers?

Michele: We have three full-time and about 10 part-time staff. Some work five hours a week, some work 30. We have a couple dozen volunteers that help regularly with the programs and the exhibit floor. When we have field trips, they help the kids.

Schools visit us from as far as two hours away. It’s been really fun to begin to build relationships with the outlying school districts. They’ll visit, explore the museum for about two hours, have lunch in the park right beside us, and then head back.

A CVIM Patient Says “Thank You” Things don’t always come out the way you expect them. A lifetime of weak teeth left me with frequent trips to the dentist. After I was disabled, I had no idea how I was going to be able to manage dental bills.

Centre Volunteers in Medicine was able to help me. Their dental clinic has good equipment, materials, and supplies…and fantastic staff of professional, caring people. What a godsend.

How does this work? Donors. Fixtures and equipment, materials, and supplies are all because of generous donors. Monies are donated to keep things running smoothly.

I want to say thank you to these donors and the wonderful volunteers and staff.

Please keep this important mission working and help neighbors in your own backyard!

– Catherine, CVIM Dental Patient 2520 Green Tech Drive State College, PA 16803 120 - T&G August 2017

814.231.4043 www.cvim.net

Mimi: Well, you won’t have lunch in that park in your new location.

Michele: No. We’re sad for that. There’s a tiny bit of green space right behind the museum. We think with some landscaping, we could turn it into a space with picnic tables. We also have two classrooms instead of one so they could potentially use one of the classrooms for lunch.

Mimi: What do you want this place to be in the next five years?

Michele: So many things. Teachers have a really hard job, especially at the elementary level. Science can sometimes get pushed out, almost completely, which means kids have no access to science unless they’re getting it from somewhere else. There are some really good places and people doing work in the community related to science and engineering, and we can be an additional constant and I’m really excited about that. I think we’re building that now.

I think about this analogy often: you walk with your best friend into a restaurant and the server comes over and says, “what would you like?” But you haven’t even seen a menu. That’s the challenge kids face now, especially at the high school level deciding to go to college or not, and what to study. On their way there, as they’re supposed to be exploring, they don’t know what their options are. So, how can you build stronger communities, businesses, and better research if you don’t have people who even know that it’s an option? I see us being that menu for a lot of children and families.

And we can explain the contents of that menu.

We don’t think every student has to be a scientist or engineer, but we want every kid to feel like it’s an option if they’re interested.

Mimi: Or have some understanding of it.

Michele: Part of science is about using data to make claims. If you can’t do that, there’s no way you could say anything about climate change or overpopulation or whatever. So, science can help kids be critical thinkers and learn to use data and to think about making explanations.

Mimi: I’m not sure if this interview will reflect the energy and excitement of the leader of the Discovery Space. Your energy, attitude, and spirit are captivating and I want to thank you for sharing it with me and our readers.

Michele: This is certainly exciting and I’m happy to talk to anyone who wants to talk about it. Thanks! T&G

This Month

on

for additional program information visit wpsu.org

WPSU-FM and Palmer Museum of Art present...

Jazz at the Palmer Monthly, beginning Thursday, August 24 For each concert, doors will open to registered guests at 7 p.m., and performances will begin at 7:30p.m. Attendance is FREE and limited to four seats per address.

Reservations for each concert will open at 8 a.m. on the first day of the month of the concert.

August 24 — Rick Hirsch (Held at the WPSU studio due to construction at the Palmer Museum)

September 28 — Arthur Goldstein (Palmer Museum) October 26 — Penn State Student Ensemble (Palmer Museum) November 16 — Penn State Faculty Jazz Combo (Palmer Museum) wpsu.org/jazzatthepalmer

Diana

Tuesday, August 22, at 8 p.m.

Twenty years after Princess Diana’s death, this new film reveals her story in her own words. What emerges is the narrative of a shy young girl who stepped onto the world stage in 1980 and departed in 1997 as its most famous woman.

Secrets of Althorp – The Spencers Tuesday, August 22, at 10 p.m.

Take a tour of Althorp, childhood home and final resting place of Princess Diana. The Spencer dynasty has produced politicians, military heroes, dukes and duchesses and will one day furnish Britain with a king: Diana’s son, Prince William.

wpsu.org

AUGUST

T& G

Artist of the Month

The Urge to Create

Leaving her medical practice behind, Alice Kelsey answers call to visual art-making

By Courtney DeVita

Alice Kelsey says that “art emerges from the artist. It’s not just copying what you see in nature, but sharing your particular view of it.”

Art is the underlying force behind everything Alice Kelsey does. From painting, to medicine, to music, Kelsey’s life endeavors have all been outflows of her aesthetic expression.

Since closing her medical practice 12 years ago and devoting herself full-time to painting, Kelsey, of Warriors Mark, has gained national recognition and exhibited her expressive oil and pastel landscapes across Pennsylvania.

Kelsey’s early life experiences growing up in the rural landscapes of Chester Springs sparked a desire to somehow capture the nuanced beauty of her natural surroundings.

Her grandfather, an artist in his own right, cultivated her talent by encouraging her to use his own materials to sketch and showing her the importance of integrating her own mood and observational experiences to produce a work.

“It was a very joyous experience watching this energy emerge of little scratchy marks,” she says. “It really instilled in me that art emerges from the artist. It’s not just copying what you see in nature, but sharing your particular view of it.”

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Though she briefly considered going to art school, Kelsey decided to go the liberal arts route, and attended Hamilton College where she continued to take art courses and developed a passion for medicine.

She would later attend medical school and open a private practice.

Though many saw medicine as a leap from her artistic pursuits, Kelsey felt that medicine and art were composed of the same core elements.

They both “focus on the ability to integrate things,” she says. “Medical diagnoses takes integrating physical findings and history in the same way composing a painting does. It comes from the same place.”

After years of practicing medicine with art on the back burner, the urge to create grew stronger.

“Everywhere I go I see things, on my way to work, walking with kids, and it was during this time the call to visual art-making grew stronger and stronger, not less,” she says. She decided to close her practice to focus entirely on art.

Kelsey’s scientific background has aided her with the technical aspects of art-making, such as framing, but proved most beneficial to her with the experimental nature of her most recent project, Through the Surface, that exhibited in the Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County.

Through the Surface is a series of works featuring different perspectives of a single pond in Central Pennsylvania.

Kelsey came to know about the area about a decade ago and immediately felt a curiosity and sense of wonderment there.

“It was a beautiful place with so much to take note of, but it also puzzled me how to ever take one piece of it and put it in the frame,” she says.

She took annual pilgrimages to the pond, but it wasn’t until two years ago that she began to go nearly every day to sketch and paint.

To attempt to convey what spoke so strongly to her about the area, she launched into a full exploration of different media including silver point, an old drawing medium predating graphite.

The technique was popular in the Middle Ages, with artists using a silver-tipped, pointed object and a surface to which silver particles would adhere.

Kelsey also explored gouache, an opaque watercolor paint, among other materials like oil and pastel. These materials helped her to find different ways of capturing those qualities of the pond that so fascinated her.

Her explorations of different materials led her to write a book of the same name to complement the exhibit. The book outlines her discoveries and creative process for those who appreciate art but might not have the technical background to understand the making of a piece.

Part of this exploration included not only what materials she could paint with, but what materials she could paint on. Kelsey played with canvas, linen, and wood panels to see how the textures affected the movement of the strokes and the overall energy of the painting.

Some surfaces, like linen, have a more grid-like texture that pierces through the paint, becoming a part of the work itself. Kelsey acknowledges that this series of paintings centered on that.

“I used the materials as an expressive tool,” she says.

The title of the exhibit, Through the Surface, is a nod to Kelsey’s quest to look beneath the surface into those emotional qualities. However, she also meant “Through” in the sense of via. She explores the mood of the work via the surface of the painting.

This becomes clear in one such work depicting water lilies on a still day. She used the smooth wood panel surface to achieve a peaceful mirror-like quality. The texture of the wood is hardly visible so as not to disrupt the calmness of the scene.

In another painting of the water lilies, Kelsey used linen and a thicker paint texture to create a more vibrant and alive energy.

Kelsey starts most of her works through plein air sketches she does on location. Though most translate the phrase plein air to open air, the technique directly translates to full air. The latter

Pond Rhythms by Alice Kelsey.

translation applies most accurately to Kelsey’s work.

When looking at one of her paintings the viewer sees not only the appearance of the landscape, but the mood, the stillness of the air; one gets the “full” scene.

Her next project, Finding Centre, is a joint exhibit with Sarah Pollock, a full-time local artist. The exhibit celebrates the balance between communities and open space in Centre County, and how inhabited areas are integrated into the surrounding land.

To Kelsey, it is most of all a celebration of stewardship. A portion of the sales from the opening reception will go to ClearWater Conservancy to support local conservation efforts. This is Kelsey’s chance to give back to the land that has fed her artistic expression for so many years. T&G Alice Kelsey’s book Through the Surface can be purchased at the Bellefonte Art Museum. Her upcoming exhibit, Finding Centre: Paintings by Alice Kelsey and Sarah Pollock, will be in the State College Framing Company and Gallery from November 4 to December 4. A portion of the proceeds from the opening reception November 4 will go to ClearWater Conservancy.

2017 August T&G - 123

T& G

snapshot

The Phyrst Turns Phifty Legions of fans still kick off their shoes and get together for some brews

By James Turchick For many locals, it’s a place that might be older than they are, where they can grab a beer at the end of a long day. For students, it’s a place where they could very well see their faces on the wall from their 21st birthday celebration. For owner Mike Fullington, the Phyrst is where his family lives.

“You walk in here and you immediately feel like you’re family,” he says.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the bar on East Beaver Avenue in State College is still packed even on a quiet summer Tuesday night. Fully-staffed with bartenders pouring drinks and cleaning up spilled Corona, its old charm is still visible in the stainedglass windows and 10-foot medieval door its original owners built.

Opened in 1967 by Don Bartoletti and soon joined

by Ernie Oelbermann, the Phyrst will celebrate with a performance by the Phyrst Phamily on August 5. The band, for which Ernie was legendary, was a Saturday night sing-along staple for decades.

Bartoletti passed away at a young age, and Oelbermann died in 2015. The bar has changed hands a few times, but Fullington says it’s still a place for everyone.

“Since the Phyrst was opened, it’s been a place where everyone feels welcome,” he says. “You could be next to a guy in a tuxedo or next to a guy in PJs on any given night.”

Tim Riefel, who Fullington says has been a regular at the Phyrst for 15 years, says it’s where the locals come.

Over Thanksgiving break, when students are home, Riefel says the bar is still serving drinks to a full house.

Fullington joined the bar 14 years ago as a manager, and became co-owner eight years ago. Before his time, though, he says Bartoletti planned on opening more locations. A long-running joke, he says, is that Bartoletti wanted to open another bar named the Second, but now people mistake Local Whiskey above the Phyrst as that.

Working behind the bar, Jennifer Laing says people 124 - T&G August 2017

Loyal customer Tim Riefel (left), owner Mike Fullington, and manager Ryan Rosh at the Phyrst.

don’t realize how close the Phyrst family actually is. Even wedding parties have come through the bar.

She jokes, “A bride will walk down in her wedding dress and I’ll say, ‘You spent how much on that dress and you’re walking down here in it?’”

It makes a good point, though.

That wedding parties find the Phyrst a good spot for a nightcap goes to show how much of a family the dimly-lit Irish bar represents.

Future spouses meet at the Phyrst, Fullington says. Some even propose there — like one that was planned for a recent day. It won’t be the first time it’s happened, he says, and it won’t be the last. He says as long as the Phyrst remains a place where anyone can walk in and grab a beer, it’ll be a fixture in State College. T&G The Nittany Valley Society will feature the 50-year history of the Phyrst in a documentary film this fall. The Phyrst 50: A Bar in a College Town, will premiere at The State Theatre on November 10. Find more at Phyrst50.com.

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