150 Years of Penn State Creamery Ice Cream

While attending the annual Central PA Festival of the Arts
at Penn State University in State College, PA,
there was no question that we had to pit-stop 
for some ice cream refreshment at the Penn State Creamery booth.
After all, making ice cream is an art, isn't it?

Visiting the Creamery is a true blue (& white) PSU tradition; 
its ice cream is known and loved by alumni and visitors alike.
It had been a while since I'd had some, so I was a happy camper.

It just so happened that this year, The Creamery was celebrating a milestone birthday.
Milestone, indeed - to the "happy birthday to you" tune of 150 years!

A vote had gone out to declare an official b-day ice cream flavor.
The winner? "Birthday Cake," naturally.
"...a blue frosting swirl and frosted cookie freckles
inside a yellow cake batter ice cream base." 

I snapped a few photos, including our flavor choices.
And, yes, it was every lick as yummy as I'd remembered. 

"Peachy Paterno"

My choice: "Bittersweet Mint"

"Happy Happy Joy Joy"

The Berkey Creamery

creamery.psu.edu

Read my post on the Artsfest!

The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts at Penn State

Links to visit:

Penn State Creamery

Pennsylvania State University

Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts

Bucks Knocks Out Hunger!

Friends of mine invited me to join them for a morning of volunteering with the

United Way Bucks County, at an event called Bucks Knocks Out Hunger.

Their fight is made possible by joining resources with thousands of volunteers

to package nutritious meals for the County's food pantries.

The United Way is in partnership with a group called Outreach, Inc.,

who is able to offer supplies at a cost of only 25 cents per meal.

They also work alongside the Hope of the Harvest Charitable Garden at

Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, PA, where this event took place.

Volunteers don aprons, hair-coverings, and gloves, preparing for the action.

Notice the young lady in the cape: one of the organizer "super heroes" of the event!

Also notice in the foreground the red tools used to seal the bags.

This is a total assembly line project - precisely organized!

Huge bags of beans, rice and such are opened and at the ready.

The mission for our shift was assembling Rice & Beans and Macaroni & Cheese meals.

After sliding an opened bag onto the bottom of  these handy yellow funnels,

we would each dump our ingredient into the bag.

Next, each bag was weighed, adjusted if necessary, and then sealed.

A very efficient set-up! 

Me, Bill & Lynne!

We were assigned to a Rice & Beans table.

Here are the bins with beans, and a soy protein mixture.

A seasoning packet went into each meal bag.

My assignment was adding a scoop of these dried vegetables.

Members of the Delaware Valley College Football Team

were on hand to help out. Good work, Superheroes!

Here's a very quick action shot of the assembly line in process.

There wasn't time for photos while packaging was under way;

it was serious business focusing on the rapid-fire order of assembly.

I couldn't really even converse with anyone - a tough one for me, but I stayed to the task!

Woo-hoo! Our shift reached a goal of 40,000 meals!

Isn't that amazing?

How good it felt to be part of such a worthy effort!

The Mac & Cheese meals.

The Rice & Beans meals.

What a terrific way to give back!
If you'd like to make a donation, volunteer,

or learn more about this fabulous project, here are some links:

United Way of Bucks County

Bucks Knocks Out Hunger

Outreach, Inc.

Hope of the Harvest

Bethlehem Steel–Architecture in Rust

A day in Bethlehem, PA with my hubby included a stop to see 

the coke ovens and blast furnaces of Bethlehem Steel. 

I will admit it. His idea to visit this place didn't make me stand up and cheer. 

Sounded like a "guy thing" to me. But.

I flashed back to the shops and craft bazaars (yes, hundreds) he'd tolerated for me.

I softened and gave in without protest. Hey, it's love.

And sure enough, I was secretly eating crow.

 I was taken in by the mystique of the place! 

Ruins of another era. The place was an abandoned ghost town,

but with an undercurrent that something great had happened here.

Once alive and thriving, but now still and silent.

After watching an excellent film at the Visitor's Center to learn some history, I was sold. 

We spent some time walking around to see the place up close and personal. 

At least as close as chain link fencing would allow.

I imagined men climbing the steep ladders for checks and repairs. 

I marveled at the colossal feat of designing and building it all.
Then, while snapping photos against a brilliant blue sky,
I started seeing the angles and curves of a piece of architecture.

Architecture now in rust.

Fast Facts:

Began in 1860 to make iron rails for the railroad.

Grew to become America's second largest steel company.

Best known for the wide flange steel beam.

Used to build New York City's Madison Square Garden, 

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, CA and the 

center axle of the first-ever Ferris Wheel at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

85% of the New York City skyline was built with Bethlehem Steel.

Used to build guns, cannons, tanks and ships for both World Wars.

Here's a far shot to appreciate the immense size of the structure.
 That's me (posing) at the bottom for scale.

Notice a corner of the Visitor's Center on the right.

The beginning of the end was said to have been in 1966, 

when, although Bethlehem Steel was the lowest bidder to provide the steel 

to build the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in NYC,

the decision was made to obtain even lower prices by using imported steel. 

Other builders followed suit.

Appreciating the patina of years.

All of the buildings combined once stretched 4 1/2 miles along the Lehigh River!

The arched walls of many strong stone buildings remain, skeletons of the past.

The Bethlehem, PA plant closed in 1998.

Learn lots more at this website:

Bethlehem Steel: Forging America