Around Town's blog

State College & Centre Region is named a Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists

State College – Centre Region

is named a Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Community

by the League of American Bicyclists

 

Washington, D.C. – May 15, 2012 – May is National Bike Month with hundreds of events and thousands of riders celebrating bicycling nationwide. And a growing number of U.S. communities are taking steps to encourage residents to ride all year round —including the Centre Region. The League of American Bicyclists has announced the latest round of Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC) and the State College–Centre Region area was named a Bronze Level BFC. The Centre Region COG applied for the designation on behalf of six municipalities (the Townships of College, Halfmoon, Harris, Ferguson and Patton, and the Borough of State College).

 

The Centre Region Council of Governments is holding a brief ceremony to announce the Bronze level award as follows:

 

Date: Thursday, May 17, 2012

BLAVATSKY - original play reading at the State Theatre weds May 16th

 

The State Theatre Hosts New Play Reading Series

 

STATE COLLEGE, PA - May 11, 2012 - Executive Director Richard Biever is pleased to announce that The State Theatre will host a new play reading series called "Start At The State." The readings will take place in the intimate Upper Studio on the second floor of the theatre and are supervised by local playwright Mary Gage.

 

First up, on Wednesday, May 16, is a reading of Penn State professor and author Warren Sylvester Smith's one-woman play, Blavatsky. 2012 marks the centenary of Smith's birth (1912-1984).

 

The life of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, a 19th-century spiritualist and founder of the Theosophist movement, is shown in six conversations set at various points in her controversial career. The role is played by Cynthia Mazzant, an actor, lecturer in Penn State's English Department, and theatrical consultant. The performance is directed by Elaine Meder-Wilgus.

WOOT! Banff Mountain Film Festival’s First Sell Out in State College!

Sierra Club Moshannon Group

State College, PA

April 17th, 2012

Banff Mountain Film Festival’s First Sell Out in State College!

The Sierra Club Moshannon Group’s hosting of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour had a sell out audience at The State Theatre on Saturday, April 14th. The 571-seat theater was filled by its 7:00 pm start, and they had to turn people away. The Sierra Club Board’s Banff Coordinator, Ronn Brourman said, “This is the first time in our 9-year history of doing the event that we have sold out the event, and we couldn’t be more thrilled! It’s not often that an organization can achieve this—it is a testament to the many loyal audience members who seek us out every year and tell others about the event.

Sierra Club Moshannon Group Chair, Gary Thornbloom said, “We are extremely pleased with the turnout and the enthusiastic reception we received, and we plan on bringing this event to State College for many years to come.” Brourman announced the news of this historical sell out following intermission, and the audience applauded enthusiastically. The second night of the Banff Mountain Film Festival on Sunday, April 15th came very close to a sell out as well, selling over 540 seats.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival consists of documentary-style films on extreme sports, cultural themes and the environment. The event is produced by the Banff Cultural Centre located in Banff, Alberta Canada. The film festival tour travels to over 390 communities and 35 countries across the globe. State College is one of the stops on the tour.

Grand Opening of the new Webster’s Bookstore Café April 14 10 am until 8 pm

Websters Reopening[STATE COLLEGE, PA]—Webster’s Bookstore Cafe is pleased to announce its Grand Opening celebration on April 14, 2012 from 10 am until 8 pm at their new location at 133 East Beaver Avenue, State College, PA.  A ribbon-cutting will take place at 10am at the Humes Alley entrance, attended by the Mayor of State College, Elizabeth Goreham.  

“We’re happy to introduce our new location to the community and to those who helped bring this project to fruition,” said Elaine Meder-Wilgus, Owner. “The grand opening celebration for Webster’s Bookstore Cafe marks the launch of a new model for bookstores across the country as they move toward becoming cultural and community centers.”

“Changing the Moral Climate on Climate Change” Five Penn Staters Confront Climate Change Denial

“Changing the Moral Climate on Climate Change” Five Penn Staters Confront Climate Change Denial
When: April 30th, 7 pm – 9:30 pm
Where: 101 Thomas Building, University Park, PA

Who: Dr. (Juris) Donald Brown, Peter Buckland, Dr. Janet Swim, Dr. Rick Schuhmann, and Dr. Michael Mann, director of Penn State’s Earth System Science Center, Nobel-Prize co-winner for his work on the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and author of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars.

Dr. Susannah Barsom of Penn State’s Center for Sustainability will emcee and moderate the event.

Dan Barker and the Freedom From Religion Foundation coming to PSU and State College

Dan Barker is a former Evangelical Preacher Now Co-President of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Sponsored by: PSU Atheist Agnostic Association 

Nittany Freethought (an FFRF Chapter) 

Unitarian Universalist HUUmanists 

Here's a copy of the PDF poster for the event

Questions? Details? Updates?

BetsyChuck@verizon.net

 

Webster's Grand Opening getting very close now

cafe counter.jpgErin painting.jpg
Record bins.jpgSign.jpg

Dear friends,

Woohooo! Getting very close now!! This will be sort of a brief edition since things are now changing too fast to properly describe, plus I, as you may expect, have tons of stuff to do. It turns out that putting a bookstore together from scratch involves quite a lot of work. :o) However I wanted to get you all our current schedule of events for the grand opening festivities. The official opening is April 14th, however we've decided to stretch that into a two week party - and you're all invited!

Feminist Responses: Sexual Assault, Social Power, Personal Healing

In recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the Women’s Studies Department and the Center for Women Students present 

 

Feminist Responses: Sexual Assault, Social Power, Personal Healing 

View the PDF here

Monday, April 2 Opening Reception 7 PM - 10 PM, 129B HUB-Robeson Center 

 

Featuring a performance reading by Bill Doan, Professor of Theatre and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, College of Arts and Architecture , followed by an Open Mic, and a Clothesline Project display 

Tuesday, April 3: 

"Healing Is Dealing" Panel Discussion 12 PM - 1:30 PM, HUB-Robeson Center Auditorium 

Featuring Peggy Lorah, Audra Hixson, and Jessica Smith-Effrig; chaired by Dana Cuomo 

"Sexual Violence and Institutional Power" Panel Discussion 2:30 PM - 4 PM, 

HUB-Robeson Center Auditorium Featuring Justine Andronici, Lorraine Dowler and Maureen Jones; chaired by Melissa Wright 

Screening of In a Town This Size, followed by discussion 7 PM - 9 PM, State Theatre 

Facilitated by members of the Centre Country Women’s Resource Center and Women’s Studies 

 Tuesday, April 3 & Wednesday, April 4: 

 Sexual Assault Awareness Information Table 10 AM to 4 PM, HUB-Robeson Center 

 Featuring the collection of sexual assault prevention pledges 

 led by Women’s Studies honor society, Triota 

 Wednesday, April 4: 

 Healing Gathering 6:30 PM, Pasquerilla Spiritual Center 

 led by the Center for Women Students 

Nittany Valley Writers Network (NVWN) will host a writers workshop featuring C. Hope Clark

Nittany Valley Writers Network

--FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--

Nittany Valley Writers Network (NVWN) will host a writers workshop featuring C. Hope Clark

The Nittany Valley Writers Network (NVWN) will host a writers workshop featuring C. Hope Clark as the speaker. The workshop will be held at Schlow Centre Region Library, 211 S. Allen Street, State College, on Saturday, April 28 from 10 am to 4 pm.

Hope Clark is the editor of the Funds for Writers newsletters and the Funds for Writers website, one of the Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers from 2001 to 2011. She is a full-time freelance writer and the author of The Shy Writer: An Introvert's Guide to Writing Success. The first book of her agricultural mystery series, Lowcountry Bribe--A Carolina Slade Mystery, was released in February 2012.

Clark will speak on four topics: The Story of Carolina Slade--A Mystery Becomes a Reality;

Revisions--Polishing for Publication; Funding Streams for Your Freelance Career; and Platform and Other Tools for the Serious Writer, including a discussion of The Shy Writer.


After the talks, she will hold a question and answer session and a book signing.

 

Seating is limited. Registration is $20 through April 21, and $25 at the door if any spaces remain.

 

Kathleen Hall Jamieson To Lecture at Mount Aloysius College

Kathleen Hall Jamieson To Lecture at Mount Aloysius College
Kathleen Hall Jamieson To Lecture at Mount Aloysius College
Cresson, Pa. – Continuing a campus-wide theme and nationally
recognized series of campus discussions on Civility, the Mount
Aloysius College Moral Choices Lecture for Spring 2012 will feature
Dr. Kathleen Hall Jamieson. Dr. Jamieson is one of the country’s
leading experts on advertising, political campaigns, and the role of
communications in politics, as well as a regular guest on PBS’ The
Newshour, Now with Bill Moyers, and the Charlie Rose Show. Her lecture
entitled, “Incivility and its Discontents” will take place Wednesday,
March 21st at 2:00 p. m. and again at 7:00 p.m. in the historic Alumni
Hall on campus. There is no cost to attend and the general public is
warmly invited to attend.

Mount Aloysius President Tom Foley applauded the choice of Dr.
Jamieson as the 2012 Moral Choices Lecturer. “Kathleen Hall Jamieson
is an advocate for truth in politics in the age of spin,” said
President Foley. “A prolific author and presenter, Dr. Jamieson is
also a laser-sharp communicator, much needed in our time. We are
pleased to bring her to Mount Aloysius College and to the Southern
Alleghenies. Everyone is invited to attend one of her lectures.”

Sister Helen Marie Burns, RSM, vice president of mission integration
at Mount Aloysius College noted that Dr. Jamieson is a world-renowned
speaker on Civil Discourse and a much sought after commentator. “Dr.
Kathleen Hall Jamieson is an internationally recognized academician,”
said Sister Burns. “Most recently noted for launching FlackCheck and
FactCheck – created to hold media accountable for political reporting
- we expect her to bring that same lively candor and clarity to our
Spring Moral Choices Lecture.”

Update on Websters - still on track to open late March Early April

Dear friends,

District 2012 Tree Seedling Sale benefits Centre Co. Conservation District

TREE SEEDLINGS AND FRUIT TREES AVAILABLE

With spring just around the corner, the Centre County Conservation District is now accepting orders for the annual Tree Seedling Sale.  Proceeds from the sale are utilized to sponsor environmental education programs including the annnual Centre County Envirothon and the Conservation Poster Contest. 

See our updated blog entry

Seedling (Bare-Root) Varieties Include:

Colorado Blue Spruce, Concolor Fir, Canadian Hemlock, Easter White Pine, Norway Spruce, Sugar Maple, American Redbud, Black Cherry, and White Flowering Dogwood.  Seedlings are sold in bundles of 10 bar-rooted.

Fruit Tree  (Bare-Root) Varieties Include:

REMEMBERING WALLIS “WALLY” LLOYD (1929-2011) By ROBERT LIMA

Dear Voices,
Wallis "Wally"Lloyd (1929-2011) was a prominent member of the State College Community, as his obituary in thr CDT described. As a longtime friend and neighbor, I want to honor Wally's memory with the brief piece below. I hope you find it of interest for Voices.
All best for the New Year!
Robert

Dr. Robert Lima, OIC
Knight Commander, Order of Queen Isabel of Spain
Academician, Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española
Corresponding Member, Real Academia Española
Enxebre Orde da Vieira



REMEMBERING WALLIS “WALLY” LLOYD (1929-2011)

By ROBERT LIMA

On January 15th, family and friends of Wally Lloyd commemorated his recent death at a memorial service in the Fireside Room of the Nittany Lion Inn. Wally was my longtime neighbor and friend and we joined the large crowd honoring his memory.

It was 1970 when Sally and I moved to Orlando Avenue. We knew people on that street: Jo & Jack Searles and Pat and Wally Lloyd. Our house was four from the Searles and diagonally across from that of the Lloyds. New friends, the Lavins and the Petersens, were only houses from ours. We were all to become very close friends and would go to dances at the Elks, where Gary and Wally were members.

I had met Wally several years earlier. He was a prime mover of the recently-founded Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts and in 1968 I was invited to chair that year’s event. I formed several committees to organize the Artists-in-Action, the Sidewalk Shows, the Juried Crafts, the Film showings, the Music events, the Poetry readings, and the Juried Art … It was in this last context that Wally’s engineering know-how shone for he arranged a pulley system to lift heavy paintings from behind the HUB, over the balcony and into the exhibit areas; he was the X-factor in making the Juried Art exhibit a success.

Grateful Dead tribute band Dark Star Orchestra at the State Theatre Nov 29.

Dark Star Orchestra Surpass 2000th Performance, Continue The Grateful Dead’s Live Experience For Fans Old & New

Band expands recreation repertoire to include new eras of the Grateful Dead’s music,
Perform Tue Nov 29 at the State Theatre

130 West College Ave State College, PA | 8 pm | all ages
Tickets at the State Theatre

Dark Star Orghestra

The exciting recent news is that the band has just announced they’ll be embarking on a European tour early next year, where they will recreate shows from The Grateful Dead’s historic Europe ’72 tour. If you aren’t familiar, the Europe ’72 tour produced the famous 2xLP of the same name that was a lot of people’s first introduction to the Grateful Dead. Even 40 years on, a 2011 limited edition release of 7200 box sets containing every show from that tour (over 60 CDs, costing $450) sold out in less than 4 days.

As I mentioned on earlier emails, the current tour also sees DSO’s 2000th performance – so there’s lots of interesting stuff going on

Check out a video of the guys performing “China Cat Sunflower” into “I Know You Rider” from this year’s Gathering of the Vibes.
 

Destruction and construction in the New Websters space

 

Dear Friends,

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