From music superstars to national championships, commencement, THON, and chaotic class registration, Recreation Building has been the site of countless memories made over its nearly 100-year history. Here, readers recount some of their favorite moments in Rec Hall.
Coach Gene Wettstone staged gymnastics meets that packed Rec Hall, including the NCAA men’s championship in 1966, which crowned Steve Cohen with his first of two all-around championships.
Also, Motown was taking off in the mid-’60s, and Rec Hall rocked with The Supremes, The Temptations, and the Four Tops as they bus-toured the country. Great memories!
Ron Kochman ’68 Lib
Kenilworth, Ill.
Alpha Zeta fraternity ran a concession stand at Rec Hall, which was steps away from the AZ house. We sold 8-ounce cups of Coke for 50 cents and hot dogs for $1 each. Our pay was 20%, Penn State got 20%, and 60% went to the vendor. So we got a dime for each Coke and 20 cents for each hot dog we sold. We kept track by counting the cups and buns. Watching sports while making money was a win-win!
In the spring of 1974, the PIAA Wrestling Finals were moved to Rec Hall because of a major renovation project at the Hershey Arena. I signed up to help sell all day Friday and Saturday. The crowds were huge, and they kept changing as different weight classes competed. Late Saturday night we finally counted the money and realized we had over $9,000 in cash!
Barron “Boots” Hetherington ’75 Eng
Ringtown, Pa.
One of my six elected phys ed courses in the fall of 1969 was bait casting. This involved attempting to hit targets on the floor using a fly rod with a hard rubber weight on the end of the line. Struggling to hit the farthest target, I gave it a mighty whip; the weight came off, shot straight up and got stuck in a ceiling tile. The instructor came by asking what happened to my weight. I directed him to look up as I apologized, embarrassed. I’m not sure how many days it stayed there, but I was relieved to receive an A, and have never tried fly-fishing.
Robert Bonsall ’73 Eng
DuBois, Pa.
Back in 1967, you headed to the Rec Hall floor to register for classes by standing in line for IBM punch cards and dashing to the next table to register for the next class, only to realize that you had go back to the first table to exchange the cards for different days to fit the class into your schedule. Then you needed to stand in line once again for a lab class day ... and on and on.
That fall, I knew Joe Paterno’s football office was upstairs in Rec Hall, and I went up to see if I could sign up for the team. After talking with Joe, he said to report to the field locker rooms. So I started as a freshman walk-on. After two Orange Bowls, great teammates, and four exciting years, I will always cherish my time at Penn State.
Mark Koiwai ’71 Edu
Washington, D.C.
As a graduate student from 1990 to 1995, I loved going to basketball games at Rec Hall. In March of 1995, Minnesota came to Rec Hall during spring break, so the attendance was less than normal and we had seats right up front. On their team was Voshon Lenard, their leading scorer that year, who eventually went on to have an 11-year NBA career.
During warmups, I started nagging Lenard to let him know he wouldn’t have a good night against the Nittany Lions. Throughout the game, every time he took a shot I yelled at him—and he had a horrible night shooting. After every missed shot I yelled his name and he gave me a dirty look. Penn State won 69-60, and I went directly to Zeno’s with my friend Eric after the game and told everyone how I helped the team to victory.
The next day I read in the Daily Collegian that Lenard had a bad case of the flu and was puking in the locker room before the game and at halftime. It crushed me, as I truly thought I had helped our team pull out an upset win.
Glen Anderson ’95 PhD Sci
Pleasantville, N.Y.
Bruce Springsteen performed at Rec Hall on April 13, 1976. I was a freshman living in North Halls, and one of my friends came by my room about 60 minutes before the concert and asked if I wanted to go. His date had just canceled on him. Bruce wasn’t very well known in Erie, where I’m from, so I wasn’t a big fan. But I felt bad for my friend, so I went.
Springsteen was amazing. He sang for three hours in one of the best concerts I have ever been to. I was a lifelong fan after that.
Len Spoden ’78 Sci
Vienna, Va.
My favorite memories of Rec Hall take place sitting behind a fly-tying vise in its cozy basement classroom and standing on its gym floor with a fly rod during the Principles of Fly Fishing (KINES 004) and Mastery of Fly Fishing (KINES 093) courses, known today as The Joe Humphreys Fly Fishing Program. It was within the walls of Rec Hall that I learned about Penn State’s deeply rooted fly fishing tradition.
Instructed by the late Greg Hoover, North America’s most knowledgeable fly-fishing entomologist and a man of great character, I became fascinated not only with the fundamentals of fly-fishing but also with a culture that organically promotes environmental conservation. I have treasured memories of visits from fly-fishing legend Joe Humphreys, who provided casting instructions on the iconic Rec Hall hardwood floor as part of the Jesse Arnelle Fly Fishing Initiative—a program designed to introduce fly-fishing to underrepresented students.
Damon Markiewicz ’16 IST
Brooklyn, N.Y.
On a bitter Sunday evening in January 1982, Erik Moorhead, Jon Morgan, Bob Scoverski, and I trekked across the tundra known as Parking Lot 80 to the Pretenders concert in Rec Hall. What a venue—not a bad seat in the house! A photographer from the Daily Collegian asked if she could take our picture. The concert was simply amazing—may have even knocked some bricks off the iconic Rec Hall exterior. To our surprise, our picture appeared in Monday's Collegian; my $8 ticket stub is still stapled to the now-yellowed article.
Bob Thompson ’84 Eng
Newark, Del.
We lived in Hamilton Hall in 1979-80, across the street from Rec Hall. We liked to play pickup basketball several nights a week, and were friends with the women’s basketball players and often played pickup games with them. But the biggest benefit was being able to get in line first when the Rec Hall doors opened for men’s basketball games and snatch up half-court seats in the front row.
Edward McCauley ’81 Bus
Indianapolis
My sophomore year (1961) was the year our musical hero, Ray Charles, played at Rec Hall. With limited seats available, we pulled an all-nighter at the Rec Hall ticket office to secure our seats. The night of the concert, Ray was delayed, and the fans were glad to see our hero when he arrived an hour late.
Our favorite Charles song was “What’d I Say,” and when it was finally played we were prohibited from standing and dancing in the aisles.
Bill Rothman ’63 Bus
Lemoyne, Pa.
As a phys ed major in the late 1960s, intramural sports participant, intramural official, and eventual member of the staff under director Dutch Sykes, I seemingly spent half my time in Rec Hall. It was my home away from home, and houses my fondest memories of Penn State. I won four intramural badminton championships on that main floor.
My activities in Rec Hall shaped the rest of my life: I went on to become the intramural director and a physical education professor at Wichita State University, spending 45 years as a faculty member.
Francis Rokosz ’69 H&HD
Bel Aire, Kansas
One day in August 1979, near the start of my second year on campus, my roommate gave me a phone message from a young man named Phil we had met on the floor below us. I called him back and he asked if I wanted to go see Pure Prairie League in concert at Rec Hall. Wow ... did I?! Their hit song “Amie” was quite popular. If I went with Phil, he would pay for my ticket and stand in line to get it. “Yes, I’ll go!”
That was my first real concert experience. The music was loud—and great—and Phil was nicer than I thought. He asked me out again and again, and eventually we got married. At our 25th wedding anniversary we had a party with live music and dancing, and the band played “Amie.”
Julie Knecht Paladino ’82 Agr
Waverly, Iowa
I was in grad school in 1979 and would frequently run on the indoor track. One day as I sat in the bleachers to catch my breath, in walked Joe Paterno carrying a paper bag with his lunch in it. He sat down and I got up to give him some privacy. He immediately put out his hand and said, “No, stay. Let’s chat for a while.”
While he was eating, he had me introduce myself and he asked all kinds of questions about me, my family back home, and my studies. I will never forget how gracious he was, even offering to sign the book about him, Football My Way, by Mervin D. Hyman and Gordon S. White Jr., when I told him I was reading it!
Régine Lambrech ’75 MA, ’85 PhD Lib
New Fairfield, Conn.
Concerts and events in Rec Hall would always start with the announcement that there is no smoking in Rec Hall. At the West, Bruce and Laing concert in 1972 the campus security force decided to strictly enforce that ban by shining a flashlight in the face of anyone trying to light up a, ahem, cigarette. This started out OK, but after a while a resistance began to swell. Concertgoers began flicking their lighters simply to draw the flashlight for the purpose of giving the flashlight holder a salute, with a single finger. Yes, that finger. This caught on and quickly spread to everyone with a lighter, I presume so that there would be too many lighters for the number of flashlights and overwhelm the response.
The security forces retreated and huddled under the side stands, and Leslie, Jack and Corky gazed out at a sea of lights, nodding to each other at the spectacle. I can’t say for sure where the tradition of holding up lighters—now cellphone flashlights—at rock concerts began, but I believe it started in Rec Hall in 1972.
Jim Rose ’73 Eng
Winchester, Va.
My favorite memories of Rec Hall precede my enrollment as a Penn State student in 1956. They go back to 1953, 1954, and 1955, when I attended the PIAA State Wrestling Tournament there as a high school student.
Ronald L. Williams ’59 Eng
Charleston, W.V.
When Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were scheduled to perform on campus, everybody wanted to see the Boss, but my roommate and I missed the boat—the concert was sold out by the time we tried to buy tickets. So we came up with a brilliant plan: to dress in workout clothes and hide in the exercise room in the basement of Rec Hall, and then sneak up the back stairs and into the event once it started.
When we reached the entrance to the hall we were met by a campus security guard. But I guess a combination of our sad faces and the goodness of the student guard won out, because he let us head into the concert anyway. We had a great time and even got to see the band perform an extended version of one of my favorite songs, “Rosalita.”
Brad Berkowitz ’79 H&HD
King of Prussia, Pa.
I was in a weightlifting class with a member of the gymnastics team—Greg Weiss, the team captain in his senior year. One of the tests for the final exam required 10 chin-ups from a high bar. Greg put on a show for us and did his 10 in typical gymnastics form: feet together, toes pointed, legs parallel to the floor.
Another great memory was when Coach Gene Wettstone arranged for the Soviet Union’s Olympic gymnastics teams to perform in Rec Hall on Jan. 14, 1961. The most memorable was the routine on the still rings by the Soviet Albert Azaryan, who won the gold medal in that event at both the 1956 and 1960 Olympics. The moment he finished, the crowd erupted in applause. When his scores were posted, the noise level rose higher: One judge awarded him a perfect 10, a score we’d never seen before.
Marvin “Buzz” Kaplan ’62 Eng
Westfield, N.J.
My girlfriend, Doris, and I were among the 50 or so attendees at a concert in Rec Hall on a dreary afternoon in mid-December 1956. The group launched into an hour and a half of the finest jazz and blues, to the collective appreciation of a mesmerized audience. When the group leader announced the concert’s conclusion, there was a murmur of disappointment. He conferred with the others, then returned with an encore that lasted as long as the original performance.
Days later that group’s little-known leader, Louis Armstrong, joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for the concert “An Evening for Hungary,” which made headline news all over the world.
M. David Lawler ’58 Eng
Harleysville, Pa.
As a member of the 1983-1987 women’s basketball team, there are many Rec Hall memories, but one stands out far above the rest. It was Feb. 16, 1987, and second-ranked Rutgers was coming into our home with a 23-0 record. Posters around Rec Hall went up a week before this game, asking visitors to “Witness the Upset.”
The posters were a success, as over 3,100 fans came to cheer us on. They were all given blue and white pompoms, and it truly was a sight to see. It was a close game all the way to the end, but we won 75-70. When the buzzer rang, the crowd stormed the court. I want to thank every single fan who put their energies into our team that night. We couldn't have done it without you!
Lisa Faloon ’87 H&HD
Verona, Pa.
My best memories center on registering for classes at the beginning of each academic term. Picking up one’s “deck of class registration cards,” then going out onto the floor of Rec Hall to make schedule changes by picking up new cards and cashing in courses or sections no longer wanted. The best part of the frenetic scene was greeting friends and classmates after term break.
Scott Bailey ’69 Bus
Coral Gables, Fla.
Some years after graduating I was working for the U.S. Department of Defense Armed Forces Sports Office. We were prepping the American team for the Conseil International du Sport (CISM) Olympics in Catania, Italy.
Our women’s volleyball team was composed of full-time service members, and they needed to tune up before facing the international teams. So a match was set up with a club team from Penn State, and we were invited to watch the women’s volleyball team practice at Rec Hall. They were in the middle of another NCAA Championship season, so it was great for us to witness this team working so hard.
On the whistle to end practice, the Penn State players were turned loose to run all over Rec Hall, find pans of blue or white paint, soak their hands in it and chase their teammates and splash them with paint. Their sheer joy was contagious—our team carried it with them to Italy, where it helped them play very well.
Bob Roadarmel ’76 H&HD
Springfield, Va.
My greatest memory of Rec Hall goes back to a Saturday night in December of 1982, my sophomore year. Alabama brought their highly ranked men’s basketball team to Rec Hall for a game. At the same time, our football team was well into preparations for the National Championship game to be played against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day. Those two factors had a nearly full Rec Hall crowd really amped up—the atmosphere was particularly electric for an early season basketball game.
Both teams exited the floor after initial warmups and then came back out to the raucous crowd for their last-minute layup drills before tip-off. Alabama came out first, and after organizing in their two layup lines, in unison they ripped off their crimson warmups to reveal blue T-shirts that read “Go Lions, Beat the Dawgs” in white on the back. The crowd went wild! They then proceeded to take off the shirts and hurl them into the stands.
Penn State took the game to OT before finally losing. Thankfully, Penn State followed Alabama’s suggestion and secured the national championship, beating the Dawgs. My only regret was not getting one of those T-shirts.
Don Carlino ’85 Bus
Kennett Square, Pa.
In 1952-53, I was a captain of the basketball team and we had an unusual game against Pitt, who was coached by a dentist named Doc Carlson. He was a master at using the figure 8 offense, which would not work against a good zone defense, and we had one of the best zone defenses in the country. He decided the team would try to stall. At that time, there was no shot clock. While his team stood around and held the ball, Doc Carlson passed out donuts to the fans behind him. The score at halftime had us beating Pitt 7-2.
After halftime, Carlson's team started attacking the zone. Penn State won 24-9.
Herm Sledzik ’53, ’56 MEdu H&HD
Houston, Texas
Who can forget that bold PSU student-athlete who “streaked” the 1973 U.S. Nationals Gymnastics Championships at Rec Hall? The streaker performed a series of “flip flops” (i.e., back handsprings) from one corner of the gym floor diagonally to the opposite side. Rec Hall was at full capacity (well over 6,000 attendees for each gymnastics meet in those days).
Although the person attempted to disguise himself with a nylon net over his head, his red hair was an obvious giveaway—and so was his excellent form. Ask any 1973 alum, gymnastics fan, or any former Penn State gymnast. This incident is legendary.
Dennis Paoletti ’67 A&A
San Mateo, Calif.
I grew up in State College, and every Christmas break in my preteens, Rec Hall would have a children’s program. Each day I would look forward to the foot races around the track. I won almost all the races, which was so thrilling to me. This “need for speed” stayed with me, and I was on the first girls’ track team at State High my senior year in 1968.
Debbie Noyes ’72 H&HD
State College
My Rec Hall memory can be summed up in a name: Sam Lickliter. If you were there for men’s basketball on the night of Feb. 9, 1993, that name conjures up hostility and anguish.
The team was in its first year of Big Ten play, playing the No. 1–ranked Indiana Hoosiers. Coach Bobby Knight said that going to Penn State would be like going on a “camping trip.” The players played an incredible game. When regulation ended, the score was tied. Penn State took it into two overtimes but came up a bit short: The final score was 88–84. No one expected Penn State to play so well.
To this day, Lickliter probably called the worst basketball foul in Penn State history. One of the Indiana players was holding onto Greg Bartram’s jersey, and he tried to push him away. Lickliter should have called a foul on the Hoosiers. But things didn’t go the Nittany Lions’ way.
I attended many basketball games in Rec Hall. The atmosphere was always electric, but none so as that cold winter night 32 years ago!
Chad Hershberger ’94 Com
Mifflinburg, Pa.
My favorite Rec Hall memory is substituting for the Nittany Lion mascot for a basketball game in the winter term of 1971.
The mascot had to be out of town for his brother’s wedding and, being a member of the Students for State pep club, I was asked to interview to fill in at this February game. I had to go through a few interviews, the last being with Richie Lucas, the assistant athletic director. Because the uniform for the Lion was custom-made, anyone having the honor to wear it had to be the right build and height. That year the optimal height to wear the uniform was 5-foot, 8-inches. I was fortunate to be that exact height!
I spent the game hanging with the fans, doing the traditional dance to the music of Noxema’s “Take It Off” commercial at halftime, directing the pep band, and signing autographs. It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment.
Bob Merrill ’72 Lib
Erie, Pa.
In March 1956, Atherton Hall’s second floor and Triangle fraternity joined forces to work on Spring Week. A get-together event was held at Rec Hall. It was a donkey basketball game, and it was hilarious! My facial muscles were in pain from laughing. After the game, fraternity brother John Diener walked back to my dorm with me. We were married in 1958 after graduation and were together 67 years.
Georgianne Rabosky Diener ’58 Sci
Mechanicsburg, Pa.
As a member of the late ’50s track team, Rec Hall holds special meaning for me. Although the outdoor quarter-mile cinder track was not unusual, our indoor season training facilities in Rec Hall were. We ran around its inner walls on a wooden track about 10 feet wide, protected from falling some 20 feet to the gym floor below by a 3-foot-high metal railing. Each of the four corners were banked for anyone circling the track.
Sprinters and hurdlers trained on one of the track’s long sides but could hit full speed only for about 30-35 yards. In order not to slam into the wall at the banked corner, we learned to run up that corked wall for about 6 feet and spin around 180 degrees before landing back down on the track. Careful practice was required to make sure your run up the wall had as little backward push off the wall as possible, so you didn’t throw yourself over the railing onto the gym floor below. The warnings worked, because no one was ever lost over the railing. We just couldn’t wait for meets where you ran on the ground floor!
Ted Lopushinsky ’59 Agr
East Lansing, Mich.
I worked part time as a student campus patrolman, which helped control crowds at functions at Rec Hall. One of the concerts that I worked was Frank Zappa and the Mothers.
I was stationed at his dressing room to guard it and got to see him coming and going between sets. He was a very nice guy and said hi to me each time he passed. When I told my kids about it, they found a retro poster of when he was at Penn State the night I guarded his dressing room.
Tom Columbus Jr. ’76 A&A
Vintondale, Pa.
After spending four years in the U.S. Air Force, I walked onto the Penn State track and field team. I spent most of the indoor track and field seasons training in Rec Hall to become Penn State’s first ever decathlete in 1971. While using the mezzanine for pole vaulting, high jumping, and shot put, I watched Penn State Olympians Mike Sands and Mike Shine run sub-50-second 400-meter dashes on the tight turns of the indoor track.
After my 20-plus-year career as assistant track and field coach with Head Coach Harry Groves, I was hired as Rec Hall building coordinator and events coordinator. From 2000 to ’02, I helped with preparations and event coordination for many varsity events, including volleyball, gymnastics, and wrestling.
Bill Whittaker ’73, ’86 MEd H&HD
State College
In Rec Hall I experienced Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Funkadelic, and so many more. I also produced an Arlo Guthrie performance there on the eve of the release of the film Alice’s Restaurant. Bafflingly, he refused to perform the title song until the audience goaded him into it.
Then there was the time a group of tech-savvy students attempted to bootleg-record the Jefferson Airplane concert by tapping into the sports broadcast lines that fed from Rec Hall into the radio studio in Sparks Building. It didn’t work because the night was cold and students had draped their coats over the mics taped under the rails that bordered the upper floor jogging track.
My greatest memory was when our band, the Wooley Thumpers, opened for Janis Joplin. Before the show she invited us into the green room, where we shared laughs and swigs from her bottle of Southern Comfort. That is a Rec Hall memory I’ll never forget.
Jerry Zolten ’69, ’74 MA, ’82 PhD Lib
State College
In the spring of 1974 I was running on the banked track at the top of Rec Hall and at one of the corners, Jack Ham and Franco Harris were there talking. Super Bowl champs! I kept running, just happy to have seen two of PSU’s best football heroes.
Phil Turton ’76 Edu
Bethlehem, Pa.
In the 1970s, a small production crew from student radio station WEHR (East Halls) would attend concerts in Rec Hall and record backstage post-concert interviews with the artists. I would tag along to take promotional photos. It was amazing the number of high-caliber acts that would come to Rec Hall, such as Billy Joel, Loggins & Messina, and Seals & Crofts.
Billy Joel was reserved and did not want a photo taken. At the end of the interview, he indicated that he wanted to spend some quiet time alone and asked me to suggest a “quiet redneck bar” that he could visit. I referred him to a small bar not far from Rec Hall.
Years later, during a conversation with the general manager of the Bryce Jordan Center, I was told that every time Bill Joel came to Penn State he would ask the GM to take him to a quiet local bar after concerts.
Russell J. Rossman Jr. ’77 Bus
State College
I am a native of State College, having grown up in Lemont and Houserville. As a student at Lemont Elementary School in the late ’40s and early ’50s, I remember going to Rec Hall at Christmas time where they would have a day of Christmas activities for local children. We were even given brown paper gift bags. Another fond memory of Rec Hall is coach Gene Wettstone’s gymnastics meets, and particularly his international team competitions.
Larry Cramer ’75, ’97 MS H&HD
State College
While attending Penn State in the ’70s, my roommates and I frequently looked for a pickup basketball game. The IM building hadn’t been built yet, so we would go to Rec Hall, usually in the evening.
Frank Carlson ’74 Bus, Chuck Wilcox ’74 Bus, Tony Alo ’74 Lib, and myself found some spirited contests. In the fall of ’72, we matched up unknowingly with the then-power forward on the Penn State basketball team, Jonathan Marshall! Another time, we let a local high school sophomore play with us. He turned out to be Matt Suhey, PSU class of 1980 and Penn State family football royalty. Needless to say, we didn’t capture many rebounds in either game.
Glynn Chase ’74 H&HD, ’77 MPA Lib
Boalsburg, Pa.
It’s my freshman year on campus in 1963. Groggy at 8 a.m., I’m standing in an endless line of bleary-eyed students that snakes around Rec Hall. Many are wearing the required blue beanie caps (dinks). Suddenly the doors spring open and the crowd surges forward. It’s fall registration day and everyone is in a panic, racing from table to table trying to secure seats in hard-to-get courses. Praying and cursing can be heard as sections slowly begin to close.
Now fast-forward 10 years later. Following military service, I am back at Penn State embarking on a graduate degree. Being an avid runner, I am once again in Rec Hall, regularly using the elevated track. While cooling down, I stroll through the side corridors looking at the hundreds of old photos lining the walls. One particular group shot of the football staff catches my eye since it includes Joe Paterno. As I am reading the accompanying inscription, I am surprised to see that his name has been misspelled! True, it might seem trivial, but I still wonder, decades later, if anyone else ever noticed the error about our famous and revered coach?
Fred Milano ’63 Bus, ’73 MA, ’77 PhD Lib
Boone, N.C.
My memories of Rec Hall include the basketball court being used for class registration. If needed classes were not gotten during preregistration, students were required to go to Rec Hall at a scheduled time to secure computer punch cards for the class. This usually was very efficiently done. But one time while waiting in line to get my class, my contact lens fell out onto the floor. I said something like, “Don’t move!” and the line of students kindly stood still. Luckily, I found my lens, I got the class I needed, and all was well.
Patricia “Patti” Richter Michaels ’73 Edu
Boalsburg, Pa.
My first experience in Rec Hall was in the early Fifties when I was a grade school student. The physical education department held a program for students over Christmas vacation, during which we participated in a number of activities.
The State College High School track team, of which I was a member, was allowed to use the track around the perimeter of the seats for preseason training. I used the track to train for intramural track. There was an alcove at the end of the track. The alcove held some ancient exercise equipment. One piece consisted of a stack of weights connected to a rope running over a pulley to hand grips.
James Beasom ’65 Eng
Melbourne Village, Fla.
Memories of Rec Hall! Who can forget registration in the ’70s and before, when we had to stand outside the building hearing something to the effect of, “8:00 entering the building, 8:05 against the wall, 8:10 on the curb,” and then running to various tables hoping to get that last punch card for the class that I needed to complete my required courses? If we were lucky, we had a friend who was scheduled to go in ahead and would grab a card for us. Oh, that wasn’t allowed? Never mind.
Sandy Burket Yagiela ’76 Edu
Farmington Hills, Mich.
Oh, how I loved thee. Let me count the ways: Standing in line for course registration; phys ed classes—weightlifting, badminton, fly casting, and fencing; stress-release pickup basketball; running the elevated track; presenting the colors with the NROTC Color Guard during an event; seeing Simon & Garfunkel, my first date with my wife, Ellie Fair ’69 Bus; concerts of The Supremes, Dionne Warwick, Iron Butterfly (yes, all 17+ minutes of “In-A-Godda-Da-Vida”) and Herbie Mann; pickup basketball; NCAA basketball and gymnastics; meeting and making new friends; did I mention pickup basketball?
For me, Rec Hall was not just a building—it was a release valve, even walking the trek from East Halls in snow, wind, and rain. I will always have very fond memories of Rec Hall.
Don Reinhardt ’70 Lib
Plymouth, Mass.
I had many wonderful and varied experiences at Rec Hall: Camaraderie and exercise while league bowling on a College of Agriculture faculty/staff team; enjoying with friends a crowded concert by a relatively young Bob Dylan; going to basketball games with my then-girlfriend/ now wife, Yvonne Marcano ’91 MEd Edu. At one game we were surprised to spot Joe Paterno sitting a few rows away from us. Another time we sat courtside and were treated to a sweaty James (“The Bear”) Barnes crashing into us as he dove to save a ball from going out of bounds.
I hadn’t thought about these fun times in a while. Thanks for giving Rec Hall some recognition.
Joe Makuch ’84 MA, ’91 PhD Agr
Laurel, Md.
My favorite memory of Rec Hall is seeing the musical Tommy performed in 1973. I went with a few friends from my dorm, and it was a fun evening.
Bruce Lazarus ’75 FSHA
Cincinnati
Winter Term, January 1971. I just transferred in from the Hazleton campus, a converted hilltop private estate consisting of five small buildings. Time to register for classes. I took the lengthy, uphill walk on South Allen Street from our apartment nine blocks south of campus, up North Burrowes, past the power plant spewing smoke and the impressive frat houses. There it was … the largest building I had ever seen (being from a small town of 5,000 people and one traffic light).
And there they were … hundreds of students like me lined up outside Rec Hall, waiting to enter to seek out class cards, going from table to table to complete registration for the upcoming term. In the months and years to come, Rec Hall would give me more pleasant experiences of great concerts and motivational speakers (Colloquy).
Joe Zoshak ’73 Edu
Malvern, Pa.
My memories include seeing the rock opera HAIR as well as other concerts that were sponsored by the Interfraternity Council (IFC). But my most vivid memories are going there for gymnastics meets. Penn State had a great men’s team under coach Gene Wettstone and for several years they hosted a national team from Russia and other European countries. My brother and his wife came to University Park from Altoona for those meets and we had a terrific time!
Larry Ferguson ’73 Eng
Marlton, N.J.
I attended many events at Rec Hall. Here are a few of my favorites: Watching basketball and Jesse Arnelle, leading to many victories. A real treat was watching Gene Wettstone with his top gymnastics team in the country.
One time we saw a performance by Louis Armstrong and Velma Middleton. The great Satchmo played and sang and was joined by the singer Velma, who wore a glittering dress.
Lew Roscoe ’58 A&A
Oro Valley, Ariz.
I was a student at Penn State from 1945 to ’48. During those years, some Gamma Phi Beta sorority sisters and I would await gymnastics meets between Penn State and an invited opponent. There was no women’s team in those days, and some of the events of that era are long gone, such as the rope climb (usually won by Steve Green), and the trampoline. We’d go to Rec Hall looking for a win from coach Gene Wettstone’s team.
I can’t remember which year it was, but the visiting team was the Naval Cadets from Annapolis. The trampoline event began, Navy first. Two or three routines were over when the next cadet stepped up. He did several somersaults, then a high bounce. He came down completely off-balance at the edge of the trampoline, his leg went through one of the springs and broke with a crack that sounded like a shot. A gigantic gasp came from the audience, two medics rushed in with a stretcher, and to applause off he went to the hospital. The competition resumed and I believe Penn State won. It was an event not to be forgotten. And I was delighted to see a Penn State gymnast win a medal last year at the Paris Olympics!
Suzanna Romig ’48 Edu
Wenersville, Pa.
In January of 1981 a carload of high school friends from Venango County came for a visit to State College. On Saturday we realized Penn State was wrestling Clarion College (a small D2 school that wrestled D1) at Rec Hall. Both squads were ranked in the Top Ten and it was going to be a huge match for both teams. Having grown up 20 miles from Clarion and with several of our buddies enrolled there, we quickly agreed it was a must-see match.
Rec Hall was hot, standing-room-only, and extremely loud. We took up spots on the track and watched the action. Wrestlers from both teams fought fiercely, and when the match was over Penn State had scored a 29-10 decision. Hoarse and with our ears ringing we good-naturedly razzed our buddies and went and celebrated the great contest we had just witnessed.
Mike McKain ’82 Agr
Kennerdell, Pa.
From 1972–1976 I lived in Hamilton Hall, so I was close to Rec Hall, and I have many fond memories of events in that great old building. I saw my first-ever rock concert there (Three Dog Night), and in 1975, a young rocker named Bruce Springsteen.
I spent evenings bowling and playing racquetball in the basement, and for PE I took bait casting. We practiced casting from the bleachers into buckets on the floor. I also went to combination events: One ticket got you into Rec Hall for both wrestling and basketball on the same night. Loved that place.
Ed Lambert ’76 Eng
Severna Park, Md.
The afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 6, 1976, we entered Rec Hall after running around the golf course. As we walked toward the locker rooms, we heard this amazing music. We walked under the bleachers and through an entrance near the stage—what a shock to see Billy Joel and his crew preparing for his concert that night. What a thrill!
Kathy Williams Hoke ’71 Lib
James Hoke ’70 Sci, ’73 MS, ’76 PhD EMS
Davis, Calif.
I worked in the Rec & Parks office for my work study job. I sometimes worked in a very small room under the stands making booklets for professors. I would take my lunch break watching basketball practice and afterwards would run the track above the stands, which I really enjoyed in the winter. Of course, going to games and concerts were the best part of going there. The intimacy of Rec Hall reminded me of playing in my high school gym. Great memories.
Bob Devine ’77 Lib
Gilbertsville, Pa.
In 1976, as a member of the University Concert committee, I arrived at Rec Hall to usher a concert. While most freshmen were assigned far up the bleachers, I was tagged with a handful of upperclassmen to actually sit on the Rec Hall stage, my back to a band I didn’t really know.
While the band played, I sat facing the cavernous entirety of a darkened Rec Hall, punctuated with the flicker of flashing lighters for almost two hours, doing my job and barely paying attention to the performance unfolding literally inches behind me, except when the occasional sweat or saliva of Bruce Springsteen and Clarence Clemons found its way onto my back.
Cyndie Henrichs ’79 Lib
Charleston, S.C.
During the coach Gene Wettstone era of men’s gymnastics at Penn State, Rec Hall was typically filled to the rafters for the home meets. Despite upwards of 10,000 fans, what sticks in my memory is the absolute silence during a competitor’s performance. The entire hall was so quiet that the leather handgrips could be heard on the high bar, the still rings, and parallel bars as the competitors went through their routines until they stuck a landing and the audience voiced their appreciation! While I’ve attended a few gymnastics meets in recent years, the quiet reverence of competitions during the Wettstone era is gone; it is a loss for current fans.
Ron Markle ’73 Sci, ’74 MS, ’76 PhD IDF
State College
While this isn’t my fondest Rec Hall memory (that would be attending the Phil Collins concert in February 1983), this one is the most memorable. As a sophomore I was ticking off my PE credits and got closed out of ballroom dancing. My only option was volleyball, which I really disliked, but I figured I could stand it for five weeks. The second week of class in Rec Hall I went up for a set and broke a knuckle in my left ring finger. (The instructor kindly let me continue in the class by observing the men’s volleyball team in practice/at games and writing reports.)
Two weeks later I was on my way to volleyball class when a door that had previously needed a heave to open had evidently been repaired and flew open violently, slamming my right ring finger between the handle and the wall. Off I went to Ritenour, where the doctor authoritatively stated that he needed to burn a hole in my nail to let the blood out. The nurse pointed out that all of the blood was collecting under the skin on the bottom of my finger, not under the nail. He brushed her off and laid a hot wire on my nail, melting a hole in it instantly. Not surprisingly, no blood came out and I had a hole in my nail for months afterward.
There was no one more relieved than me when volleyball class ended!
Sheryl K. Larson-Rhodes ’85 EMS
Honeoye Falls, N.Y.
I was fortunate enough to live in West Halls for my two years at Penn State after transferring, on schedule, from Elizabethtown College. (E-town was one of a number of Pennsylvania Colleges to have 3-2 collaborative engineering programs with PSU. You got a bachelor’s degree from each school.) The West Halls dorms were near to my aerospace engineering classes in Hammond, and near to Rec Hall as well. So it was easy to hop over there on a winter Saturday afternoon after lunch at Waring, often preceded by a morning class.
Both wrestling and men’s gymnastics had serious fan bases. I guess I saw my first gymnastics meet around January 1962. I was absolutely stunned by the agility and especially the strength of these guys. As I exited Rec Hall, the experience had me literally talking to myself: “Hurley, don't EVER get into an argument with a gymnast!”
Frank Hurley ’63 Eng
Chapel Hill, N.C.
