Rock of Ages

As soon as I saw the cover of the May/June 2026 Penn Stater, I knew there had to be a connection between the indie band [Pause, Rewind, Play, p. 46] and the legendary gift shop on College Ave. No, I was not familiar with the indie band, but I was intimately familiar with Ethel Meserve, as I purchased many gifts from there during my Penn State years. Here is a picture of a Mount Nittany rock doll I purchased from Ethel Meserve for my mother for Mother’s Day my freshman year. She called her Ethel and kept it all those years before she passed away in 2008. Now “Ethel” stands proudly in my kitchen. 

Donna Levenson Wolfso ’68 Com
Monroeville, Pa.

More Mont Alto

I attended the Mont Alto campus starting in September 1963 and enjoyed reading the Mont Alto Memories letter in the May/June edition of the Penn Stater [Letters, p. 8]. The article mentioned that prior to 1965, the campus was dominated by male students, and that in 1966-67, bachelor of science students started arriving, bringing women onto the campus. Actually, women started arriving in numbers three years prior to that, for the 1963-64 school year. Prior to 1963, Mont Alto had been the home of the Penn State Forestry School, attended by mostly male students. In 1963, it became a full commonwealth campus, offering courses leading to other degrees. There were students like myself, who commuted from the local area, as well as students who were housed on campus in Conklin Hall, the only two-story dormitory—men on one floor, women on the other. Attached is a photo of these groundbreaking women taken in spring 1964 in front of the dorm. 

Ron Royster ’67 Bus
Gainesville, Va.

IM Medals?

I found your brief article about intramural medals in the May/June 2026 [Item of Note, p. 82] edition of the Penn Stater to be very interesting, but also a little puzzling at the same time. The article showed Bob Takoch’s 1969 medal for intramural horseshoes, which caused me to wonder about such medals. I played on East Halls (Stuart Hall) intramural football and softball teams from 1967 through 1970 and had not been aware of any medals for intramural sports, even though our football team, the Funk ’N Wagnalls, had won a championship in one of those years. So I wrote to a few of my teammates on those teams asking if any of them had received or remembered hearing anything about intramural medals. None of them had. Are you able to provide any information about which sports may have received medals for intramural awards? I wonder if it may have been only for individual sports or achievements rather than for team sports, even though the article stated that the horseshoe competition was for two-person teams. Thank you.

Bill Hall ’70 Sci
Loxahatchee, Fla.

If any other readers recall receiving medals for your IM triumphs, let us know and we’ll follow up in our next issue. —Ed.

Cookin’ Up Memories on IG

I was recently gifted a copy of Cookin’ With The Lion [Item of Note, March/April 2026, p. 74] from a dear friend! Love it sooo much! I tailgated with my grandparents all through the ’80s, and this is pure nostalgia! Then through the ’90s as my brother and I were students, and into the 2000s now as an alum (class of ’99). We Are! 

@amyeliz45 
via Instagram

I recently inherited my copy of the cookbook, and I have to recommend my mom’s Penn State “Bleu” Cheese Omelet on page 185 and Sue Paterno’s Toll House Pie on page 258! 

@houseofperiwinkle 
via Instagram

Cookin’ With The Lion may be out of print, but we have a circulating copy that @pennstatealums members can check out if they have our borrowers card! (Visit our website linked in bio and search “Borrowing Privileges” for details about how Alumni Association members and all Pennsylvania residents can get a borrowers card.) Plus, we have an archival copy in @psu_scl that Pattee Library and Paterno Library visitors can request to view in advance of visiting during the Eberly Family Special Collections Library’s hours of operation. 

@psulibs 
via Instagram