AWAY GAME PEP RALLIES
Pre-game pep rallies are sponsored by the Penn State Alumni Association and Nittany Lion Club at all away game sites. President Graham Spanier, Alumni Director Roger Williams, the cheerleaders, Nittany Lion mascot and Pep Band will help Penn State fans show their spirit. Admission is free and refreshments will be provided.

At the Wisconsin game on Sept. 25 the location will be under a big tent on Parking Lot 60 on the west end of the campus in Madison. The tent will open at 3 p.m.

At the Minnesota game on Oct. 2 the location will be in the Great Hall in Coffman Memorial Union, 300 Washington Ave. SE in Minneapolis.

HUDDLE WITH THE FACULTY
The Alumni Association’s "Huddle with the Faculty" series of free lectures by distinguished professors began its 11th season on Sept. 4 with a presentation by Dr. Blair Hedges, professor of biology, on the discovery of new species of animals on Caribbean islands.

The free lecture series will continue at 9 a.m. Sept. 18 in the Nittany Lion Inn when Dr. Kevin Furlong, professor of geosciences and award-winning teacher and researcher in plate tectonics, will share how he uses dramatic natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunami with popular movies to excite students in "It’s Hazardous Out There — Science Education that Works!"

Huddles are a free outreach program of the Penn State Alumni Association, The Nittany Lion Inn, and the Penn State Bookstore.

PARENTS & FAMILIES WEEKEND
The Sesquicentennial Games marking the 150th anniversary of Penn State’s founding will be a highlight of the annual Parents and Families Weekend sponsored by the Alumni Association and the Division of Student Affairs Oct. 1-3.

Alumni can form teams of 10 to compete in numerous events such as punt, pass & kick, basketball and soccer shootouts, fly casting, ultimate Frisbee, whiffle ball, relays, academic bowl, and others. Participants may register online at www.psu150.com.

Other activities during the weekend will include campus tours, open houses, ice cream socials, Old Main bell tower tours, a student talent show called Synergy, fireworks and the Melissa Heidenreich 5K Moxie-thon.

The 3.1-mile race against leukemia will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 3 at the Intramural Building on Curtain Road near the Bryce Jordan Center. Runners, joggers and walkers can sign up for $16 (pre-registration) or $18 on race day. Checks should be made payable to Penn State and sent to Lion Ambassadors, Hintz Family Alumni Center, University Park, PA 16802. All proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphona Society of America to help fund leukemia research at Penn State in honor of Melissa Heydenreich ’87, a Lion Ambassador, Renaissance Scholar, and member of Lion’s Paw and Parmi Nous, who died of leukemia in 1997.

Cotton T-shirts will be available to the first 500 registrants, and awards will be given in male and female categories in various age groups. For additional information call 814-863-3752 or visit the website www.alumni.psu.edu/events.

TAILGATE COMPETITION
Competition among tailgaters for Most PSU Spirit, Best Theme, and Largest Tailgate will be held at the first four home games this fall under the sponsorship of the Student Homecoming Committee. Competition for Best Food will be held only on Homecoming Saturday, Oct. 23.

Persons interested in competing must register online at http://homecoming.psu.edu. A registration fee of $5 will be collected on the days you choose to compete. The deadline for signing up is one week before each home game and competing tailgates must be set up four hours before kickoff.

A roving film crew will visit each competing tailgate and take pictures that will be displayed at the Ice Cream Social at the Hintz Family Alumni Center from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 22. Attendees will have an opportunity to vote, and the winners will receive a banner, an engraved plaque, a Penn State prize package and a feature on the jumbotron during halftime of the Homecoming game. Questions should be directed to Homecoming Alumni Relations Chair Julie Noblick at an194@psu.edu.

SPORTS PUBLICATIONS
A CD, paperback book and photo annual of interest to Penn State sports fans have hit the shops in time for the fall season.

The multimedia CD, titled The Spirit of a Penn State Football Weekend, features an on-field video and a photo gallery of over 100 pictures of football action, fans, tailgating, the Nittany Lion, cheerleaders and Blue Band honoring the spirit and traditions of a football weekend in Happy Valley. It is packaged in a six-panelled full-color collectible sleeve and can be purchased at www.SchoolSpiritCD.com.

The Penn State Football Button Book, written by alumni brothers Martin and Russell Ford, shows every single button produced during the past 32 years by Citizen’s Bank and previous bank sponsors for Nittany Lion games. The authors examine the history, highlights and national championships under Coach Joe Paterno and rank their top 100 games during the button era, summarizing each contest, its most memorable moments, key statistics and the button.

The photo annual Penn State Sports — Year In Review has 144 action-packed pages of exclusive photos taken during the 2003-2004 academic year by Steve Manuel of football, baseball, wrestling, softball, field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, soccer, gymnastics, track and other sports. It can be purchased at www.manuelfocus.net.

All of these publications may also be purchased at various merchants in the State College area.

NITTANY LION INN MEMORIES?
The Nittany Lion Inn is planning to publish a book to commemorate its 75 years of hospitality at Penn State and is seeking anecdotes and photos from guests who have savored its dining, lodging, and special events since its opening in 1931. Memories should be kept to 500 words or less and stories are subject to editing without review. Photos may be black-and-white or color up to 8x10 in size and will be kept unless return is requested. Anecdotes and photos should be submitted to Ben Bronstein ’61 at 2465 Circleville Rd. #130, State College, PA 16803 or bennstate@aol.com before the deadline of Nov. 1.

TAILGREAT IN BJC
The ever-popular Tailgreat will give fans a chance to rev up their spirit in the Bryce Jordan Center before each home football game. Admission is free and doors will open at the BJC three hours before kickoff. Festivities will begin about ½ hour later.

The Blue Band, Dance Team, cheerleaders and Nittany Lion mascot headline the program, which will conclude about one hour before kickoff to give fans time to get to their seats in the stadium.

ALL-SPORTS MUSEUM
Penn State’s All-Sports Museum, honoring student-athletes and coaches who have helped 32 men’s and women’s varsity sports provide one of the most successful intercollegiate athletic programs in the nation, is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays of home football weekends. Because of special requirements for stadium operations, the museum, which is located at the south end of Beaver Stadium is closed on game days.

Admission to the museum is free, and visitors can park in the metered lots across Curtin Road from the museum entrance. More than 93,000 visitors have already toured the museum, which opened in February 2002. Normal hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 12 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

The museum is currently featuring a special exhibit honoring Penn State’s Olympians, with memorabilia and artifacts from more than 125 men and women athletes and coaches who have been involved with the Olympics since 1920.

LION AMBASSADOR TOURS
Scheduled walking tours of campus led by Lion Ambassadors, highlighting the changing face of campus, are available to alumni and friends by reservation every Friday and Sunday throughout the fall. Tours will start from the Hintz Family Alumni Center at 3:30 p.m. on Fridays and 11:30 a.m. on Sundays. Space is limited for these scheduled tours. To reserve your spot visit the Lion Ambassador Web page at www.alumni.psu.edu/ambassador or call 814-863-3752.

VISITORS WELCOME BOOTH
For the 19th consecutive year the Centre County Alumni Chapter is operating a welcome booth for fans of visiting teams outside the northeast gate of Beaver Stadium. Volunteers, under the direction of Bruce Rathfon ’52, provide a friendly greeting and information about Beaver Stadium, Penn State and State College to visitors.

CIVIL WAR TOUR
Mosby’s Confederacy: Following the Gray Ghost is the title of the 12th annual fall Alumni Civil War Battlefield Tour Oct. 14-17 in Dulles, VA. Participants in the Alumni Outreach program will spend three days in the classroom and in the field with noted Civil War historians studying the complexities of cavalry operations and the legendary John Singleton Mosby. The program is led by military historian and award-winning author Dr. Carol Reardon with Horace Mewborn, Robert E. O’Neill and alumnus Jeffry Wert ’76. For information contact Mary Jane Stout at mvs4@psu.edu or call 800-548-LION, option 5 or 814-865-5466.