Fall 2025 in Happy Valley: An Inflection Point Like No Other — And You’re Smack in the Middle of It
t Connect HappyValley, we said last week that what is happening here felt like a social experiment. This week, it feels like a live broadcast from America’s future, though in Happy Valley it is closer to a Spruce Creek Lager paired with a tray of Spruce Creek Tavern fries than to anything you see on cable news.
Drive by the Penn State athletic fields right now, and you might think we are prepping to host the Olympics.
New press box for the soccer teams, new practice fields, dining facilities and weight rooms. Stadium overhauls and upgrades. Heavy machinery everywhere. It is not just athletic infrastructure. It is a metaphor. Happy Valley is building like it knows something big is coming. And it is.
Introducing the Connectors: Ellen Matis
Ellen Matis is the founder of Hello Social Co., a children’s book author, and a proud advocate for life-first business. Deeply passionate about libraries, she serves on the Schlow Library Board of Directors and is committed to using community storytelling as a way to keep small towns vibrant and on the map.
My Saturday at Beaver Stadium
Maybe it was inevitable that with months of mounting excitement over returning superstars, expensive coaching hires, and transfer portal treasure hunting, a three-game opening slate populated with the likes of FIU and Villanova would prove underwhelming. So much buildup for so little substance, at least early on, left plenty of space to find fault with all the flaws on State’s path to a 3-0 record and 132-17 margin of victory.
The Town Square Social Experiment: Building Connection in Happy Valley
This is not just another website and soon an app. It is a social experiment.
Imagine catching up with a neighbor at the post office or swapping stories with a friend on their porch. In those old town squares, everyday conversations were the glue of community. Not perfect, sometimes awkward, but always real and valuable.
Introducing the Connectors: Frank S. Archibald, Joe Minich and Rebecca Farmer Force
Frank S. Archibald Frank S. Archibald is a lifelong engineer, educator, and community advocate with deep connections to State College. After earning his BSME from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a PhD from Cambridge, Frank built a career in research and innovation with organizations including Lockheed, Pratt & Whitney, the Navy, and Penn State’s Applied […]
Why We Invested in Downtown State College
In downtown State College, the skyline is waking up. Among the cranes rising from the concrete, one stands for more than construction, it stands for momentum. The Nittany Residence Club, a nine-story condominium-hotel, has already sold over one-third of its 70 units—two years before opening. The question is: why so fast?
The Blue and White Zone: Living the HappyValley Life, Together
A few weeks ago, I asked a question that had been bouncing around in my mind: What if Happy Valley is already a Blue Zone in disguise? Not the branded kind, but something more authentic and local a “Blue and White Zone,” rooted in community, connection, and the HappyValley way of life.
Happy Valley Becomes America’s Saturday Showcase
This past Saturday, under a more beautiful Blue and White sky than the most emotive artist could paint and with perfectly temperate “football weather” to defy even Grantland Rice’s fertile imagination, Penn State kicked off a season widely expected to evolve into a championship chase, one universally agreed upon as a campaign of consequence for the Nittany Lions and their head coach.
What Sustainable Fundraising Really Looks Like
Nonprofits nationwide and across Happy Valley are feeling the squeeze: Grants have been cut, costs keep rising and needs are growing. How is your nonprofit organization managing the pressure? Many dedicated community groups are trying to do more with less—less time, less staff, and often less support than they need.
