THON is the biggest weekend in February for Penn Staters and Four Diamonds families across the region. But the fundraising efforts reach way beyond Penn State’s efforts and mini thons are popping up in schools everywhere. Tonight the State College Middle Schools hosted their dance marathon to raise money for families battling pediatric cancer. With several Four Diamond children among them the students danced and cheered to their own line dance and activities.
Today is the magical Saturday of the year were hundreds of youngsters all over the county make the mad dash to scoop up as many plastic candy filled eggs as they can, as quickly as they can. Each year I find a new hunt to cover. This year I was State College Alliance church were they had a huge field covered with thousands of “little candy ovens” one organizer said as the plastic eggs waited in the sun. The youngest ones were released first, with a few extra moments before the bigger kids flooded the space too. And within a few minutes it was all finished and the sugar high began! 
Today I got to photograph a car. Sounds like a boring assignment, but this car and its story are far from boring.
A gentleman in our area passed away in the fall, and when auctioneers started going through his home and garage they found his 1969 Shelby Mustang in pristine condition. The car, which was last inspected in 1972, only has 8,000 miles on it, and is in all of it’s original glory. The auction doesn’t happen till late April, but already has thousands of people from all over the country and world, talking about it. National news outlets have even been in contact to do stories on the rare gem that is prepared to sell with a high price tag.
Every year Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center hosts the Maple Harvest Festival. This year several trees were producing sap that visitors could taste right from the tree. The temperature combination has to be just right for the sap to be dripping.
One of the neat things about Shaver’s Creek is the wide variety of rescue birds they have. I captured this Great Horned Owl as he watches the crowds shuffle by. 
With spring break and sports being between seasons it was a slow day for the photo staff. I ventured out to find features as the gray skies opened up to rain off and on all afternoon.
Today a different group of players were on the basketball court in the Bryce Jordan Center. Instead of a Penn State match up it was a comical evening of hoops with the Harlem Globetrotters.
I was back in the Bryce Jordan Center bright and early today for the last several hours of THON 2014. From an emotional family hour, to an energy filled final hour the the building was at capacity with dancers on their feet through the aches and pains. After 46 hours they sat, but only for minutes before they jumped up to celebrate this years grand total of over $13 million! 
FOR THE KIDS!
After high school wrestling I was back to THON. I met up with some of the Four Diamonds families as they toured the Lasch Football building as part of an event with the Make-A-Wish foundation. The kids darted around the locker room trying on equipment and Spider sent a warm message to all in the room. 
As I walked into the BJC about 22 hours into the event the building was rocking, as usual. 
After I edited the first group of photos and got some dinner I decided to head back for the late night fun. I knew the images wouldn’t make it in to print, but we rarely cover the pep rally and I was looking for more photos to continue adding to my gallery. I bumped into one of our local youngsters who has battled cancer, and laughed captured her antics. Then came the friendly dance off competition full of 90’s tunes, flips and entertainment from the sports teams and Blue Band. 
During the summer months at Spikes games I heard many announcements about their addition to the food court, Suhey Peppers. Today I got to meet some of the Suhey family as I photographed several jars of the family recipe peppers.
The snow was coming down as I got ready for work, and with all the schools close I knew my assignments had been canceled. I layered on the warm clothes and threw my snow pants in the car. As the snow accumulated outside our office I headed out to find snow features. Being fully prepared for the elements I excitedly headed to get a newsy photo as the traffic built up from Penn State dismissing early. Then the fun began as I captured sledding youngsters, snow boarding teens and an adorable puppy. 
