Day 89: The Trilogy of Central PA Festivals: Arts Fest, People's Choice & Lemont Fest

Mid-July brings 3 simultaneous art festivals to the Central Pennsylvania region.

Central PA Arts Festival: Open until Sunday, July 17. Overwhelming amount of information we could share on this festival, but instead, here's the official Central PA Arts Festival website. 

Expert Tip #1: Forgo the $6 lemonade (what a rip-off) from the food vending tents and head up to the Youth Service Bureau stand (@ 143 West Fairmount Avenue) for free lemonade, water and sweet treats. There is a donation jar to support a good cause and it will be open all festival long! I had 3 lemonades throughout the day today @ $1 donation each and saved $15 while helping a worthy cause.

Expert Tip #2: Also related to hydration. If you are on the campus side of the Arts Fest, avoid Willard Building to purchase a beverage from the vending machines (specifically, Pepsi of Altoona)...unless you enjoy watching your drinks fall to the bottom of the vending machine, instead of dispensed! 3 waters & 2 Pepsi's later, I started to look around to make sure I wasn't on a hidden camera show. 


People's Choice Festival

Once known as the small alternative to Art's Fest, the People's Choice Fest has become a giant of its own. Visit their official website for a schedule of events.

Lemont Festival: The newest and smallest of the festivals, the 2nd Annual Lemont Fest begins Friday, July 15 and runs through Sunday, July 17. The purpose is to offer local residents an alternative to the larger festivals. All vendors are local family-owned businesses and entrepreneurs. 25+ vendors, local food and beverages, speeder train rides, music and free parking! Visit the official Lemont Fest website for more information. 

Day 87: Visit the Christmas Market at the Lemont Granary

Looking for something to do tonight or tomorrow? Enjoy the Christmas Market, located at the Lemont Granary @ 131 Mount Nittany Road. The market is open this evening, 5 - 8 pm and tomorrow, 10 am - 4 pm.

The market features crafts, jewelry, clothing, books, pottery, wreaths, gifts, local products, arts and crafts and children's activities in the railroad building in a German-style "Weihnachtsmarkt", with music, food and beverages, and good spirits.

Visit www.lemontvillage.org or call 814 238-1288 for more information.

Day 86: Variety of Things to Do Wednesday Evening / Night

Looking for something to do Wednesday evening or night? Look no further, we've researched a few options for you...

Option #1

Game night at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Centre County. Every Wednesday night, stop by for a variety of  board games, conversation, coffee and other refreshments. Located at 780 Waupelani Drive Extension, @ 7pm. For more info, visit the UUFCC website.

Option #2

Stop by the Gamble Mill in Bellefonte for Trivia @ 7:30pm. It's also singles night, sponsored by the State College Single's Club. Located at 160 Dunlap Street.

Option #3

Check out the unique acoustic interpretations of classic rock favorites with Biscuit Jam. The show starts @ 7pm tonight at the Governors' Pub, located at 211 West High Street in Bellefonte. No cover charge, all ages, free parking!

Option #4

Watch the Penn State Lady Lions take on Bucknell @ 7pm tonight at the Bryce Jordan Center. Tickets for the game are $5 if you show a fitness club membership id and free with a Penn State student id.

Day 85: Vote Today!

 

Go vote today, it is Tuesday, November 5, Election Day. Whether you live in the State College Borough or one of the surrounding townships, there is a mayoral race, council seats, a district judge, and school board seats up for election. The polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Not sure where to vote, check here to find your polling place. If you'd like to see a sample ballot prior to heading to the polls, check out this resource.

Day 84: Modern Square and Round Dancing Class

Looking to start your week off on the right foot? The left foot? Consider attending a Modern Square and Round Dancing Class. All ages are welcome and no experience is necessary. Show up solo or with a partner. A great way to Improve your health through exercise and have fun! 

TIME

• Mondays, 7:00-9:00 p.m. 

PLACE

• Radio Park Elementary School, 800 W Cherry Lane (end of Martin St),State College, PA. 

COST

• 1st lesson is FREE, then $2.50 per person per evening. Register and Pay at the dance.

MORE INFORMATION

• Contact Carter or Ruby Ackerman (814) 238-8949
• Centre Square's Dance Club Website 

ABOUT CENTRE SQUARE'S DANCE CLUB 

Carter and Ruby help create Centre Squares in 1960. When the caller left in 1962, Carter kept the club from folding by adding Caller's School to his Ph.D. studies in Electrical Engineering and even added voice lessons to his busy schedule.

in 1963 he completed Caller's School and became the official Centre Squares caller/cuer. Now fifty years later, Carter is still going strong!

Carter and Ruby have taught square dancing to over 3,000 students in addition to Round Dancing and Ball Room Dancing to several more thousand. They still teach classes year round on Monday, Tuesday, & Thursday with club dances on Wednesday.

Now they are evening teaching day time classes at their home. They have always been active in supporting square dancing and round dancing at the regional, state and national levels and still chair the round dancing programs at conventions. 

Day 83: Win 6 Tickets to the Penn State Men's Basketball Game Today

If you're looking for something to do this afternoon in the State College area, head over to the Bryce Jordan Center to watch the Penn State Nittany Lion Basketball team take on the Northwood SeaHawks at 2pm. Tickets are $5 for general admission and free for Penn State students with a student id. 

WIN 6 TICKETS NOW! 
As a special promotion and thank you for following our blog, we are giving away 6 general admission tickets for the game this afternoon and the Bryce Jordan Center. To win, simply be the first person to post a comment on this blog entry on Facebook. You'll receive a message via Facebook with details on where to pick up your tickets! The winner will be announced shortly afterward. 

SEASON PREVIEW

The Nittany Lions welcome four freshmen - Payton Banks, Geno Thorpe, Julian Moore and Graham Woodward - to the roster for 2013-14. Additionally, transfers Allen Roberts and John Johnson (eligible following the fall semester) will add depth to the rotation. Jordan Dickerson, a 7-foot center, will practice with the Nittany Lions in 2013-14 while he sits out to satisfy the NCAA transfer rules. 

Penn State will face at least seven teams who won 17 or more games and finished in the top 130 of the NCAA RPI rankings last season. The Lions will face five of those teams among eight non-conference home contests. Three of the Lions’ non-conference opponents played in the 2013 NCAA Tournament, including Sweet 16 participant La Salle, which comes to the Bryce Jordan Center Nov. 19. Four teams on the 2013-14 non-conference slate finished last season in the top 100 of the RPI and three of those won 20 or more games, including Bucknell (28-6), Pittsburgh (24-9) and La Salle (24-10).

TICKET INFORMATION
Nittany Lion basketball single-game tickets or group tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-NITTANY, visiting GoPSUsports.com or through Ticketmaster. Single-game tickets range from $5-$24 with special group ticket rates for groups of 15 fans or more. Six-game mini plans also are currently available and feature games against: Marshall (Dec. 7), Michigan State (Dec. 31), Indiana (Jan. 11), Iowa (Feb. 15), Ohio State (Feb. 27) and Wisconsin (March 2).  More information is available on GoPSUsports.com/tickets.

Day 82: Check Out A Rare Hybrid Solar Eclipse Sunday Morning!

Set your alarms early on Sunday morning to observe a rare hybrid solar eclipse at 6:30 AM. 

In New York City, you should except to see the moon covering more than half the sun. It will start as an annular eclipse, with the awesome "ring of fire" around the sun, before morphing into a total solar eclipse, in which the sun is totally blocked for a brief period. Check out the Slooh Space Camera preview below: 

The Slooh Space Camera will livestream the eclipse online as seen from Kenya, where the sun and moon will form a total solar eclipse. Remember to wear eye protection when viewing this eclipse. If it's too cloudy on Sunday morning, you can watch the Slooh Space Camera live from 6:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. ET Sunday. There is also an App in the iTunes store to live-stream the eclipse.