This Week’s Connect Happy Valley eLetter
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The More Things Change: A Sunday Morning at Bubba’s
Community often starts with something small.
Last Sunday, it started with a text.
“Hey, who wants to meet at Bubba’s Sunday at 11:30? Who’s in?” Mark Griffin wrote.
By late morning, five couples were sliding into vinyl booths at Bubba’s Eggs Steaks & Shakes, curious to see what the new ownership had done with a place that holds decades of Happy Valley memories. Griffin and his wife Karen have a quiet gift for organizing these moments. A text here, a suggestion there, and suddenly people are gathered again, reconnecting in one of the community’s cherished third places.
Educational Blind Spot: Why Schools Must Teach to Convince, Not Just to Analyze
After attending the Nittany AI Series event at Pine Grove Hall last Wednesday and in discussions with three Penn State student presenters — Kartikay Pandey, Kanika Gupta and Oviya Raja, Frank Archibald submitted this article… AI Exposes the Gap…
THON Weekend and a Full Slate Across Happy Valley
February does not exactly tiptoe through Happy Valley. It shows up with teases of sunshine, full parking lots, and lots of opportunities to get out.
This week, the energy centers around one of the most recognizable weekends of the year. THON returns to the Bryce Jordan Center, and alongside it comes a strong lineup of sports, live music, lectures, and performances.
Here are some highlights…
Think We not Me Community Food Program
According to Feeding America, Centre County has more than 15,000 individuals who are food insecure, which means they “do not have enough to eat for an active, healthy life.” Think We not Me (TWnM) Community Food Program provides freshproduce at no cost to food-insecure individuals in Centre County. In 2025, it did this through 32 food banks, pantries and prepared meal centers spread throughout the County. Items donated by the TWnM to the food charities include apples, cabbage, corn, potatoes, melons, salad greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, eggplant, zucchini and more.
Finding Warmth Indoors: Conversation, Music, and Art in Happy Valley
Winter has made itself very clear. Between the Groundhog’s verdict and the weather doing exactly what it wants, February reminds us that we’re still very much in it.
That makes this a good week to lean less toward rushing around and more toward showing up. This week’s Connect Happy Valley Events Calendar is especially rich in opportunities to take part, converse, and gather, including markets, talks, listening sessions, and workshops alongside a strong lineup of music, visual arts, and sports. With Valentine’s Day woven into the middle, many of these events offer something quieter and more meaningful than the usual dinner plans.
Here are some highlights…
Love as Showing Up, Not Showing Off
Every February, the Bryce Jordan Center fills with thousands of people doing something quietly radical. They dance, they stand, they cheer for 46 hours straight. Most will never post about the hardest moment, the 3 a.m. wall, or the kid whose family they just met. The point is not the content. The point is showing up. For The Kids.
That is THON, and it is also a living lesson in what research keeps telling us: the people who live longest and best are not the ones who perform love the loudest. They are the ones who show up, consistently, in real life.
Why You Matter More When You Show Up: The Case for Connection in Happy Valley
We have been sold a lie about the good life.
Somewhere between our grandparents’ era and now, we traded necessity for convenience, obligations for options, and showing up for staying in. We told ourselves this was progress. In many ways, it was. But we forgot something crucial along the way. Humans are not just built for comfort. We are built for connection with a purpose.
The data tells a stark story.
First Hockey Match in Beaver Stadium
First Hockey Match in Beaver Stadium
