Rediscovering Happy Valley: Mount Nittany Night

For a minute, I felt like Joe Paterno.

There’s an old story about how Paterno felt uncomfortable when he arrived at a Brown fraternity party wearing a white sweater during his college days.

Everyone at the party deemed his attire uncool, and Paterno was quoted as saying he remembered that moment for the rest of his life.

For the briefest of moments, that’s how I felt when I arrived at the Mount Nittany Vineyard and Winery a few weeks ago, during Mount Nittany Night, a celebration of the Mount Nittany Conservancy’s fundraising efforts.

Granted, everyone at Mount Nittany was as cordial and polite as imaginable, but I still felt a little out place since I didn’t immediately see anyone I knew.

That quickly changed.

As I introduced myself to Thomas Shakely, a Nittany Valley Society board member who wrote a book on Mount Nittany, another board member, Chris Buchignani, yelled out my name. Suddenly, I was surrounded by people I knew, and I enjoyed myself so much that the night quickly evaporated and the event seemed to end almost as soon as I got there.

I recently connected with the Nittany Valley Society, a local, non-profit organization that has a mission of cultivating appreciation for the history, customs, and spirit of the Nittany Valley, Penn State and the surrounding communities.

The Nittany Valley Society and Mount Nittany Conservancy aren’t formally connected in any way, but it’s not surprising to see members of both groups at the same event, considering they’re all interested in preserving our area’s heritage.

Jeff Deitrich, who sits on the board of directors of the Mount Nittany Conservancy, and I shared a long informal conversation about the happenings of the group.

There’s something inherently noble about people who are genuine in their personal and professional pursuits. Deitrich and President John Hook, who I also met and talked with, both fit this description. So does Robert Frick, another board member. Frick spoke briefly to the crowd, introducing a podcast on Mount Nittany that Katie O’Toole, a professor at Penn State, and Patty Satalia, a producer at Penn State Public Broadcasting (WPSU), produced.

It’s important to keep Mount Nittany in the social conversation that envelops the area, Deitrich said. That was the motivation for the podcast and for Mount Nittany Night.

Over the years, I’ve morphed from a gregarious, social person into someone who’s almost always reserved. Usually, I’m content to keep to myself and focus on my writing. But I’m glad I decided to attend the fundraiser and meet a few Mount Nittany Conservancy board members, and also re-connect with Katie and Patty.

As Deitrich and I were wrapping up our talk, he said that fundraising is a secondary goal of Mount Nittany Night. More than anything, he and the group want to provide a place where Mount Nittany supporters can converge and share stories. Everyone who attended has a connection to the mountain, most through personal experience.

It’s vital to tap into this interconnectedness. There’s a tremendous amount of heritage and history surrounding Mount Nittany, a landmark that’s worth preserving. Nights like the one at the winery ensure it’s not going to be forgotten anytime soon.

“We want people to have a greater understanding of what we’re doing on the mountain, and to keep instilling that pride and strong feeling that people have,” Deitrich said. “The more events we do like this, the more often people will keep the mountain in their minds and in their thoughts.”