What do you get when you combine a successful career in meteorology, a love of Happy Valley and a You Only Live Once mindset? If you ask Todd Miner, you get to turn life into a carnival ride. Meet Vamos!, Happy Valley’s premier Transportainment experience.

It’s one thing to be able to teach a perfectly willing person how to fish at Fisherman’s Paradise, the oldest and most famous catch-and-release waters in the country. But it takes quite the expert to drag a completely unwilling, hangry and slightly belligerent person to those beautiful waters and teach them the subtle art of fly fishing.

Congratulations to the Mountain View Country Club, located at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Boalsburg! The country club has just been ranked as the best public golf course in Pennsylvania by the prestigious GolfPass by GolfNow.

It makes sense that the director of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts — one of Happy Valley’s signature summer events since 1967 — would be the authority on finding the best arcane, beautiful and story-filled spots in Happy Valley. After all, that’s what Rick Bryant has been doing in his role with The Fest since 1999 — discovering things of interest and beauty, and sharing them with the rest of us.

Lee Anne Jeffries is deeply rooted in Happy Valley. She grew up in the area, went to Penn State and now heads the Downtown State College Improvement, a live, work, and play neighborhood that sparks the creative, the eclectic, and the local. “Happy Valley is home and I care deeply about this town, it’s a special place,” she says.

Find your next adventure here in Happy Valley with the Happy Valley PA GeoTour. It’s a fun way to explore the area, from Downtown State College to off-the-beaten-path destinations you’ve never visited before.

Zach Barton has spent his entire career as a servant leader, mentoring the next generation. After graduating from Penn State, he became a case manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northern New Jersey for three years, then joined the Centre County Youth Service Bureau. During six years at the YSB, he was the program director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Centre, Mifflin, and Juniata Counties and then the organization’s development director. In 2020, he became executive director of Leadership Centre County, guiding the organization through the pandemic while keeping true to their mission of educating participants about the needs, available services and opportunities, and issues in our community.

Tweet #BestBarChamps to cast your vote

It’s Penn State vs everybody — and you can help clinch the championship! Champs Downtown is in the finals for America’s College Bar. Voting ends MONDAY, April 4. You can jump and help declare downtown State College’s iconic bar the winner by tweeting #BestBarChamps to cast a vote or cast seven votes by ordering the Best Bar T-shirt.

Happy Valley’s neighbor, Clearfield County, has tons of grownup experiences to enjoy, from inventive wines to historical finds to adventures that showcase the great outdoors. But when I visited there recently, I kept thinking about how much fun my kids were going to have when I took them with me the next time. As a mom of five teens, I swear by the magic combo of fresh air fun and copious amounts of good food. Here’s five Clearfield adventures on our bucket list.