Walker Township will hold their Fall Festival this Saturday, Sept. 27, from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., at the Walker Township Park, 816 Nittany Valley Drive, Bellefonte. Good for the whole family! Come out and build a scarecrow, play fun games, check out the exhibits and enjoy the food in our park. For more info call Leah at 814-360-3099.

MILESBURG NEWS

The Milesburg Museum and Historical Society will be hosting the Milesburg Car and Truck Show on Sept. 27 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Brush collection will be done on Monday, Sept. 29. Put your brush at the curb early for pickup.

Calvin Young

Milesburg’s Fall Yard Sales will be held Oct. 3-4. Riff raff collection will be picked up on Saturday, Oct. 11.

Leaf collection starts on Monday, Oct. 6, and will be each Monday through Nov. 17. Rake your leaves to the curb, avoiding fire hydrants and storm drains. Cover piles if possible.

Make sure your vehicles are moved away from the leaf piles so the borough employees can collect the leaves easily.

AMISH MEALS

Grandview Farms is providing outdoor dining and take out country style meals from their new business at 144 Alandra St. in the Foothills Development, off Hubler Ridge Road, in rural Howard. The vegetables and meats are grown locally and are offered as part of their farm to table menus.

Grandview Farms will be open every Friday and Saturday with breakfast meals being sold from 7-11 a.m. Suppers are also offered on Fridays from 2:30-7 p.m.

I want to emphasize that this is outdoor dining in a tent, but it’s a really nice set-up! You go through the buffet line to get your food (and there’s a lot of it to choose from) and then sit at a picnic table to eat. The temperatures are getting cooler so when it gets too cold for their outdoor seating then you can still use the take-out meal option that’s available.

You can also order your meals ahead of time and pick them up on the way home from work!

Call Nathan or Rebecca at 814-482-1376 for more info, and be sure to stop by their venue to pick up a copy of their menus so you can see what’s available. You can even call in your order ahead of time if you want take-out meals! Keep Grandview Farms in mind for your local catering needs as well.

Stop by Grandview Farms to get your outdoor fall decorations, too! From mums to pumpkins, straw bales to corn shocks, Grandview Farms has them for sale.

SUMMER

CONCERT

The summer concert series at Lamar Lighthouse Camp is coming to an end on Sunday evening, Sept. 28, when GloryWay takes the stage for the final concert of the year. The concert begins at 6 p.m. and a love offering will be taken to further the ministry of both the group and the camp.

SPORTSMEN’S SHOOTS

Liberty Township Sportsmen’s Association holds shoots each month that folks may be interested in. On Sunday, Sept. 28, there will be a turkey shoot. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and shooting starts at 9:30 a.m. Turkey shoots are held the last Sunday of each month.

Muzzleloader shoots are held on the third Sunday of each month and pistol shoots on the same day. The muzzleloader shoots start at 9:30 a.m. and the pistol shoots begin at noon. Registrations are held one-half hour before shooting starts. There are entry fees for each shoot and shooters should bring their own eye and ear protection.

The club is located at 1140 Marsh Creek Road, Howard. Visit their website for more info at www.libertysportsmen.com

UPCOMING EVENTS

— Lemont Village Association will have their last summer concert of the season on the Village Green tonight from 7-8:30 p.m. and Walter Survivor, featuring Ryan Vaughan and Christine Schafer, an acoustic duo from Bellefonte who play Americana, folk and pop covers.

If there is light rain the concert will go on, bring your umbrellas and raincoats. If thunder and lightning — then the concert will be moved indoors to the granary. Check the website around 5:15 p.m. or later to see if the concert will be moved indoors.

Bring a lawn chair and stop by for the free music. Ice cream cones will be available from Troop 367 starting at 7 p.m. for a donation to the scouts. Feel free to contact Sue at news@lemontvillage.org or visit their Facebook page for more info.

— The Back Porch String Band will hold their monthly Country Jam on Sunday, Sept. 28, from 2-6 p.m., at the Yearick Center/Howard fire hall. The public is invited to this free afternoon of music. If you play an instrument bring it along, or you can sit back, relax and enjoy the toe tappin tunes.

Attendees are asked to bring a snack to share during the afternoon. A hat is passed for folks to drop a few dollars in that benefits the fire company.

— The Light of the World Clothing Bank at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Bellefonte is cancelled for October.

— Food distribution will be on Thursday, Oct. 2, from 4-6 p.m., at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 216 McAllister St., Bellefonte. There aren’t any income guidelines but a few questions are asked for those attending for the first time. For more info call Leilani “Loni” at 814-548-7835.

— Howard Fire Company’s Annual Punkin Chunkin will be held on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the beach area of Bald Eagle State Park. If you’d like to be an arts and crafts vendor, visit the fire company’s website, www.howardfire.com, and get an application there. Or, email Kathi or Cindy at chunkincrafts@gmail.com for more info.

FIRE NEWS

Centre Hall Fire Company volunteers will be starting up their monthly first Friday night Bingo on Oct. 3. Doors and the kitchen open at 5:30 p.m. and Early Bird Bingo starts at 6:30 p.m. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so please wear pink! For every Early Bird Game Packet purchased, the fire company will donate $2 to the American Cancer Society!

Centre Hall Fire Company will be celebrating its 150th anniversary on Oct. 4. There will be a parade at noon, followed by festival activities and games along with food at the fire station and an evening fireworks show. More details will be coming soon.

Tickets are also available for the CHFC’s Gun Raffle that will be held May 16, 2026.

Nittany Valley Fire Company will have their annual Sportsmen’s Raffle on Saturday, Oct. 4, from 3-8 p.m., at the fire station in Lamar. Tickets are $10.

FALL BAZAAR

The Friendship Community Center in Beech Creek will be having a Fall Bazaar on Friday, Oct. 3, from 6-8 p.m., and on Saturday, Oct. 4, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tables are available for $10 that covers both days. Call Pam at 570-295-9592 to reserve a table. The kitchen will also be open during the bazaar.

LIONS NEWS

Howard Area Lions will have their food distributions on Monday, Oct. 6 and Oct. 20, from noon to 3 p.m., at the former Beech Creek Elementary School. Bring a sturdy box (or boxes) with you as there is always a need for larger boxes for food distributions.

Food distribution is for those residents who live in the Centre County areas of Blanchard, Howard, Hunter Run, Lamar, Marsh Creek, Monument, Mount Eagle and Orviston, and those living in the Clinton County area of Beech Creek Borough and Beech Creek Township.

Howard Area Lions will sponsor a Blood Drive at the Howard Fire Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 8, from 12:30-6 p.m. Become a regular donor at the fire hall. All blood types are desperately needed to keep the blood supply adequate.

Milesburg Lions Club holds a weekly Bingo every Thursday night at the Milesburg Community Center. Doors open at 5 p.m. and Bingo starts at 6:45 p.m.

Howard Area Lions Bingo will be held on Thursday, Oct. 9 and Oct. 23, at the Beech Creek Fire Company social hall. Doors and the kitchen open at 5:30 p.m. and Bingo starts at 6:30 p.m.

HOWARD VFW EVENTS

Howard VFW’s Auxiliary will be holding an All You Can Eat Breakfast Buffet at the club on Sunday, Oct. 12, from 10 a.m. until noon. The cost is $12 for adults. Additional breakfast buffets will be held on Nov. 9 and Dec. 14.

BABY BENEFIT

A basket benefit is planned for Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Beech Creek-Blanchard Fire Company social hall. The benefit is for baby Coy Shade and his family and will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Coy was born six weeks early and weighed just over two pounds. He had to spend several weeks in the NICU at UPMC in Harrisburg before being life-flighted to the Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh where he had to undergo open heart surgery.

Coy’s parents, Seth and Vanessa, were finally able to bring him home to join his big brother, Cooper. Vanessa has been off work with minimal income to provide constant care for Coy and Seth is juggling his HVAC business to go to doctor appointments and help at home when needed. Cooper is in kindergarten and trying to adjust to school and all that goes with having a new baby in the house!

Brenda (Shade) Frazier (Seth’s aunt) and Kim (Hanley) Holzer are organizing this benefit to help ease the financial burden for the Shade family as they focus on Coy’s recovery and having their two little boys continue to grow strong and healthy.

Donations of baskets are needed to help make the benefit a success. If you can provide a basket, gift card or prize for the benefit please let Kim (570-449-2890) or Brenda (570-660-5283) know. There’s also a list of items that are needed and if you care to donate that would be awesome! Those items are bottled water, soda, coffee, hot dogs and buns, hamburgers and buns, mustard, ketchup and other condiments, baked goods, plates, napkins, cups and silverware. Venmo donations can also be sent to Seth’s sister, Emily, at Emily-Shade-5.

Let’s rally around this baby and his family and show our community support to all of them. Please keep baby Coy and his family in your prayers, too!

FOR PETE’S SAKE

I’m sorry that I haven’t had enough space in my Howard Happenings before now to properly mention the benefit event held for Pete Heverly at the Friendship Community Center in Beech Creek back on June 22. The event was appropriately called “For Pete’s Sake Basket Raffle.”

What an awesome show of support from the community! I stopped to buy tickets to support Pete, his daughter, Michelle, and the twins, Gage and Mallory, Pete’s grandkids.

There were 130 baskets donated to help to raise money for Pete’s medical expenses and to help with things that Michelle needed but hadn’t had the money for since she had taken a leave of absence from her job to stay with her dad during his hospital stay. (The hotel bill alone for Michelle to stay near the hospital was about $150 each night.)

During the benefit, members of Pete’s family — his brother, Gary, and his wife, Sharon, — were just inside the FCC door greeting those coming to the event and offering their thanks to everyone. Many other extended family members were also there, along with a multitude of volunteers, friends of Michelle’s and beyond, who had worked so hard on organizing, promoting and holding the event.

The social room at the FCC was crowded to capacity, not only with tables filled full of baskets, but with folks stopping by to donate. Many had been to Sunday morning church services and stopped before heading home. Pete would have been amazed and really touched if he could have been there to see all those who came out on his behalf.

Pete’s wife, Karen, had passed away a few years ago and they had been raising the twins, the children of their son, Eric. After Karen’s death, Michelle and her husband, Chris Ranio, stepped in to help take care of the twins, who are now in middle school.

We knew that Pete’s lung cancer diagnosis was terminal and that he had been sent home from the hospital to spend his final few days with those he loved the most. But what we didn’t know on the morning of the event was that word would come later that afternoon, before the basket raffle benefit was over, that Pete had quietly passed away.

Pete’s family is extremely grateful for all the support, not just financially from the benefit, but in the many ways that folks have helped both before and after Pete’s passing.

The “For Pete’s Sake benefit” was put together by several of Michelle’s long-time classmates and friends, and was aided by many who just wanted to do something to help with the benefit. Those included Bobbie Miller, Maria Kepler, Roni Roan, Angel Falls, Halley Kepler, Tracey Yarrison, Billie Rupert, Susan Butler, Paulette Hill and Billie Orndorf.

Thanks to all who donated, whether it was a basket or prize for the raffle, kitchen food items or baked goods, and thanks goes to those who purchased chances or just dropped money into the donation canisters or by other ways of getting it to Michelle.

Event organizer Bobbie Miller had this to say about the benefit…”We have been thanked repeatedly by Michelle and members of the family and the community for doing this benefit. And while we appreciate that, our being able to put this together and have it be a really big success was a complete honor. The turnout for this event spoke volumes on the amount of people that loved and cared for Pete, and I know it means the world to Michelle, Gage and Mallory, too.”

THANK YOU

A memorial basket raffle was held Sept. 7 at the Friendship Community Center in Beech Creek to raise funds to pay for the final expenses of Calvin “Lou” Young. Calvin passed away on July 7. The event was hosted by his brothers and sisters to help to pay for his final expenses at the Donald Walker Funeral Home in Flemington.

There were 53 baskets and prizes donated for the event. The winner of the 50/50 was Ronny Welch, one of Lou’s cousins.

Calvin’s sisters and brothers, Mary, Connie, Audrey, Ken, Joe and Roger, really appreciated the community support from those who provided prizes and those who came to buy chances and food during the basket raffle.

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Howard Happenings is written and compiled by Tammy Coakley who can be reached by email at tammysue0115@gmail.com or by telephone at 814-625-2684.