The Penn Stater Magazine

A Tailgating Tradition

February 10, 2012 at 11:12 am Mary Murphy 3 comments

Back in December, I mentioned the flood of emails we’ve been wading through here at The Penn Stater—and that was before our Jan./Feb. issue hit mailboxes and before Joe Paterno passed away nearly three weeks ago. Needless to say, readers have had a lot to say about the tragedy and our coverage.

So I was pleasantly surprised when an email from T.J. Brightman ’91 popped into my inbox the other day. T.J. told us about his son, Parker, who’s a 9-year-old football fanatic. In school, Parker was asked to write a short story about his favorite family tradition. Not only did Parker’s story (and his artistic rendering of Beaver Stadium) give me a much-needed laugh, but it made me a little jealous of Parker’s tailgate spread: Shrimp? Chocolate-chip cookies? Lemon sorbet? “Clearly, Parker loves the amenities of tailgating,” says his dad. “He talks constantly about being a Nittany Lion one day.”

I think you’ll enjoy Parker’s story too. (Click on the images for a closer look.)

Mary Murphy, associate editor

Entry filed under: Beaver Stadium, Penn State football fans, Uncategorized. Tags: T.J. Brightman.