Still Life

With four guide ropes attached to it, the east-side clock face is raised into position. While it didn't seem that windy on the ground on Saturday, Jan. 28, winds higher up were strong, requiring extra guidance to bring the clock face safely to the Old Main bell tower.

Old Main clock faces installed

Ben White of New Vibrations Audio and Video works on a ledge of the Old Main bell tower, to remove the speakers from the old chime system. The company installed a new carillon system today (Jan. 27) that will play a digital recording made of the original Old Main bell that now sits adjacent to Old Main and other bells of comparable sizes.

New carillon, restored clocks being installed

The funeral procession for Joe Paterno made its way past Beaver Stadium and down Porter Road as crowds applauded on Jan. 25. Thousands lined the procession route through the University Park campus and downtown State College to bid a last farewell to Joe Paterno.

Joe Paterno's funeral procession

Coach Joe Paterno was on the field for the first half of the Nittany Lions' football game. Penn State beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 13-3 on Oct. 8, 2011, in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Beaver Stadium.

Joe Paterno through the years

Katie Knobloch and Andrew Adamietz, members of the a capella group Blue in the Face, shared a candle at the vigil held Sunday, Jan. 22, to mourn the death of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, who passed away earlier in the day. Several thousand members of the Penn State and State College community came out to the Old Main lawn on Penn State's University Park campus for the vigil.

Thousands mourn Paterno's passing

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4thFest organizers to test fireworks tonight

Tuesday, June 29, 2010
After the test-firing of fireworks shells, show organizers tweak the timing of the shells' firing during the show, to precisely time them to the music.
Credit: Annemarie Mountz After the test-firing of fireworks shells, show organizers tweak the timing of the shells' firing during the show, to precisely time them to the music.

University Park, Pa. -- Organizers of the 4thFest Celebration on Penn State's University Park campus will be testing the fireworks at dusk this evening (June 29). The test firing will start around dusk, and should last about 15 minutes.

"Since this is a choreographed show, timing is very important. We need to determine times that it takes to launch shells and get them to their maximum altitude. We need to record the time it takes for the shell to break, put out its display whether it's a willow or a peony, and then the time to decay all the little sparklies from the sky," said Gary Mayhew, chair of the 4thFest pyrotechnics committee.

Mayhew explained that fireworks can have different timing from year to year, from lot to lot, or even from firework to firework, so they record the times and add them to their library of information from past years to get the most accurate timing possible. "The timing allows the computer to adjust the time at which it sends the signal to tell the electronic match to fire. We'll back those times off so that when the big bass note hits, that shell will open up on cue," he said.

The test-firing is a mini show by itself, and helps to build anticipation for the big show coming up. For information about this year's show, visit http://www.4thfest.org/ online, and check back to Penn State Live on Thursday for more preview information and photos.

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