Happy Boxing Day!
For those who don’t know what that is, Boxing Day was a holiday traditionally celebrated in Great Britain and a few other countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand. It’s held on the day after Christmas, and was an opportunity to give gifts to employees, tradespeople and other workers who would have been working on Christmas. Nowadays it’s mostly a day associated with shopping and sporting events. In other words, Christmas, Day Two!
But what I’ll be doing today, after my early-morning pilgrimage to Walmart to pick up 50% off mini-lights, is going through my annual file cleaning and discarding any old papers – statements, bills, invoices, etc. — that have built up in the filing cabinet and other storage places in the house.
But before I get to that cleaning, I’m going to engage in a little column-cleaning here. During the year I make little notes to myself about things, places, events and people that I might want to write a column about. Over time they find their way into a document on my laptop titled, you guessed it, “Column Ideas.”
However, a number of these little notes and ideas never have enough “meat-on-the-bone” as it were, to work themselves into a thousand words and become a real column. So, what follows for your reading pleasure are many of the notes and ideas without enough meat-on-the-bone to be columns, but enough to be a few paragraphs.
Our 35 MPH Limited Access Highway
For years I have driven Science Park Road and Valley Vista Drive to get to Home Depot, Lowes and leave town on I-99. As I am heading north on Valley Vista and pass Oakley Drive, there is a traffic sign that states in large letters, “LIMITED ACCESS HIGHWAY,” and then goes on in slightly smaller letters to note, “ENTER AT DESIGNATED POINTS ONLY.” To make matters more amusing, another 30 yards beyond this sign is a 35 MPH speed limit sign.
For those who aren’t familiar with Valley Vista Drive at that point, it’s a two-lane road with no “designated” entry points, no median usually associated with what everyday people would consider a “limited access highway,” and a speed limit normally seen only on local streets.
A little research shows that the Pennsylvania’s Limited Access Highway Law doesn’t specify a minimum speed limit for such highways, or that they have a median, or what constitutes designated entry points. Although I’m sure there is a good explanation for the designation, I’m always amused when I drive by this sign and on this stretch of what is probably the slowest and smallest limited access highway in Pennsylvania.
Which Way Is Penn State?
Another local road sign that amuses me is the sign for “Penn State University” and “University Dr” as you travel on College Avenue toward State College from the east. As you pass Porter Road and climb the hill toward the University Drive overpass, the sign points you to exit.
But, as you curve right and then left to approach University Drive, you only have two choices at the red light – turn right or turn left. There is an overhead sign on the light post indicating this road is University Drive, but there is no sign directing which way is Penn State.
Granted, we locals know you turn right to go up the hill onto campus. But the buildings, although more industrial to the right, don’t necessarily indicate they are on university property. Couple that with the speed with which you have to make your decision as the exit road splits, and if you are a first-time visitor you could mistakenly turn left.
Which is alright because you’ll then see signs directing you to exit University Drive to the right and go to State College. At the light they’ll direct you to turn left on College Avenue – which you just exited moments before – and the residence halls on the right – as well as the large stone “Penn State University” sign at High Street should convince you where the university is. But if you had just stayed on College Avenue in the first place you would have saved a few minutes!
The Greatest Convenience
We’ve had UniMart’s in Happy Valley for as long as I can remember (the first opened in 1981). Snappy’s and Nittany MinitMart have been around for a while too. Then finally Sheetz came to town and upgraded our local convenience store experience. In recent years, a Rutter’s arrived at I-99 and Benner Pike, and now the York-based chain is planning one right by the Penn State golf courses. And the hated rival Wawa has announced locations in the area too.
Meaning Happy Valley will soon be convenience store heaven. We’ll have a flavor for every taste. Or will we?
No, we won’t. What we need next is a Buc-ees.
If you haven’t been to a Buc-ees, or don’t know what it is, that’s probably because the closest ones are 515 miles away in Richmond, Kentucky, and 605 miles away in Florence, South Carolina. Just imagine a Sheetz the size of a Target, with 100+ gas pumps, no tractor-trailers and immaculate restrooms. Their Sevierville, Tennessee store is the largest convenience store in the world at 74,707 square feet.
Now, the likelihood of one landing in State College anytime soon is remote at best – highway traffic counts won’t support it – but it doesn’t hurt to dream!
When Is New Year’s Not New Year’s?
This past Saturday afternoon the Penn State football team took off in a 737 for their flight to Atlanta for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. It’s PSU’s first ever appearance in this bowl game and will mean that over the years the Nittany Lions have now played in each of the New Year’s Six bowls: the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose and Sugar bowls.
Except the Cotton Bowl is played on Dec. 29, the Peach and Orange are played on Dec. 30, none of them are played on New Year’s Eve and only the Fiesta, Rose and Sugar bowls are actually played on New Year’s Day. It’s like we’ve lost the ability to count (Big Ten) and read a calendar! Maybe next year when D1 FBS college football moves to a 12-team playoff they’ll come up with another name?
Pot Is Hot!
Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana law was signed back in 2016, and in 2018 “pot” became available within the state – with a doctor’s prescription. There are currently four medical marijuana dispensaries in Happy Valley: Vytal Options and Ayr Wellness are both on North Atherton Street, and Curaleaf and Verilife are on South Atherton Street If the Hive Dispensary on North Atherton Street next to the Wendy’s opens up – it’s been in the planning stages since earlier this year – it will be the fifth medical marijuana dispensary in the area and will set an interesting mark.
There will then be more marijuana dispensaries in the State College area than there are liquor stores. Currently, and for years, there have been four Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores in town. One on the Benner Pike, one on North Atherton Street, one in the Hamilton Plaza and one on South Atherton Street. And we all know what a great location a college town like State College is for alcohol. Yet it’s only taken five years since medical marijuana was introduced in the state for there to be as many retail locations for it as there are for liquor.
Granted, we Pennsylvanians can now buy wine in many locations, but full-size bottles of hard liquor are still restricted to those places we knew for years as “state stores.” I can only imagine how many marijuana dispensaries we’ll need in another 5-10 years when anyone will be able to buy marijuana without requiring a prescription. And how much tax revenue that might create.
Some Taxes Only Know One Direction
Speaking of tax revenue, we bought our current house in July of 2012. In 2013, the first full year we lived in the house, here were our real estate tax bills:
State College Area School District – $3,788.28
Centre County – $788.39
Ferguson Township – $246.17
Ten years later, here were our tax bills for 2023:
State College Area School District – $4,850.20
Centre County – $788.39
Ferguson Township – $390.21
Our school district tax bill went up $1,061.92 – a 28% increase. Our township tax bill went up $144.04 – a 63% increase. And our County tax bill amazingly stayed the same. I’m wondering if maybe the county could teach our other governmental agencies a few things about fiscal controls?
The End
Well, that clears out a few of my ideas and thoughts so I can now delete them from my laptop. And it gives me a bit of a cleaner slate as I start into 2024. Happy New Year to you and yours and I wish you the best in clearing out any real or proverbial piles you may have!
