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 fireworks light up sky

Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The signature event of the afternoon for this year's Star Spangled Spectacular was the delivery of a 7,000-square-foot flag by a skydiver from Team Fastrax. For more photos, click on the image above.
Credit: Annemarie Mountz The signature event of the afternoon for this year's Star Spangled Spectacular was the delivery of a 7,000-square-foot flag by a skydiver from Team Fastrax. For more photos, click on the image above.

University Park, Pa. -- Nonstop entertainment on three different stages, carnival rides, games, magic, demonstrations, food, birthday cake, a skydiver carrying a 7,000-square-foot flag and, of course a huge fireworks show kept many thousands of people entertained, as the largest all-volunteer 4thFest celebration unfolded Sunday on Penn State's University Park campus.

About 500 volunteers work on the show, with a core group working year-round on the planning, and their efforts have been recognized nationwide. According to the 4thFest website, the Travel Channel has called 4thFest "one of the best fireworks displays in the world." Fireworksguide.com ranks 4thFest third in its Top 10 list of the "largest, biggest, best 4th of July Fireworks shows annually," behind only Macy's 4th of July in New York City and the Pops Concert at the Esplanade in Boston.

The day started with a 4K race that broke all past attendance records with 1,029 people registered to run in this year's event. Last year, 909 people participated in the race. During the course of the day, volunteers grilled between 4,000 and 5,000 hot dogs, and served about 14,000 slices of birthday cake, while 20 different groups provided entertainment on three performance stages, in advance of a fireworks show that exploded 15,771 shells in 45 minutes.

The 4thFest committee depends on donations to keep the festival running from year to year. Visit http://www.4thfest.org/donations_individual.asp to make a donation.

For photos, check http://live.psu.edu/stilllife/2290 and http://live.psu.edu/stilllife/2291 online.

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