This Week’s Connect Happy Valley eLetter
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This Week Around Happy Valley: Welcome to Arts Week
There is usually something for everyone happening around Happy Valley, but this week takes things to another level.
With Arts Fest taking over downtown and campus, People’s Choice returning to Boalsburg, Philipsburg Heritage Days underway, and events popping up at museums, theaters, libraries, farms, restaurants and music venues, Happy Valley is in full Arts Week mode.
Here’s to the Hosts: A Thank You to the People Behind Arts Week
By The Connect Crew | July 8, 2026 This week, Happy Valley becomes what it was always meant to be. Downtown fills with artists. The Pennsylvania Military Museum grounds in Boalsburg come alive with the return of People’s Choice Festival. Philipsburg celebrates its heritage. Way Fruit Farm invites families into the orchard. Musicians take stages […]
Stirred, Not Stuck in Happy Valley: What We’ve Built So Far
Here’s the honest origin story. I just wanted to host cocktail parties. I texted Liz Grove: two hours, second floor of Pine Grove Hall, good drinks, good people, nothing fancier than that. I wanted a space where people in Happy Valley could show up, relax, and actually talk to each other, no agenda required.
Strong Vines. Deep Roots. A Community That Shows Up.
Every year, on the last day of elementary school, the music starts before you ever see him.
Alice Cooper’s School’s Out blasts from a boombox strapped to a bicycle as Cain Hickey pedals through the neighborhood, stopping at house after house to pick up kids for the last bike ride to school of the year. By the end of the ride, what started with one bicycle has turned into a parade of smiling children rolling through the streets together.
Around the neighborhood, it’s simply known as The Cain Parade.
Something New Is About to Launch in Happy Valley
Over the past several months, we’ve been quietly building something that we hope will become a valuable resource for everyone who calls Happy Valley home.
This Week Around Happy Valley: Lift for Life, Central PA 4thFest and America 250!
The forecast is heating up, and so is the Happy Valley events calendar. The Fourth of July and America 250 bring fireworks, parades, and plenty of red, white, and blue to the region.
Happy Valley Starter Kit: How to Feel at Home Here Faster
“I’ve been here a few months, and I still don’t feel settled.”
We hear some version of that all the time in Happy Valley.
The grocery store is figured out. You know a few restaurants. You have walked downtown and through campus. Maybe you have even made it to a game or a show. But something still feels just out of reach. You live here, yet you do not quite feel here yet.
That tension is normal. Most of us assume belonging happens once we know enough about a place. In real life, it starts when we begin participating in it.
July Is Happy Valley’s Best Welcome Wagon
From fireworks and Arts Fest to orchards, trails, and small-town traditions, here’s how to experience the valley like a local.
If you want to get to know where you live, July is one of the easiest months to start. The whole valley steps outside.
