Under the baobab: Summer winding down in Happy Valley but not events

The crisp morning air alerts us that fall is on the way. The community pulse quickens as local rituals become harbingers of what is soon to come.

The annual festival of Penn State’s Ag Progress Days kicked off Tuesday with a town hall session featuring College of Ag Sciences Dean Troy Ott and Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. The expo featured nearly 500 commercial and educational exhibits, crop art and displays, machinery demonstrations, guided research tours, family and youth activities, horse exhibitions, workshops and the Pasto Agricultural Museum.

Over the three days, 45,000 visitors were welcomed, including dignitaries and political candidates: Congressman G.T. Thompson, chairperson of the House Agricultural Committee, and his Democratic challenger, Zach Womer; Senator Bob Casey and his Republican challenger, Dave McCormick; Centre County Commissioners Mark Higgins, Amber Concepcion and Steve Dershem, and other local elected and wannabe elected officials.

On its heels, the 150th Grange Fair opened Friday and will run until Aug. 24. This multigenerational event hosts hundreds of folks who camp out and feast on traditional central Pennsylvania food and live entertainment including Nashville’s Ann Wilson and Drew Green, Aaron Tippin, Surf’s Up and Alex Miller. The Van Dells will be returning after 50 years of performing. Jet Jurgensmeyer will close out the fair on Aug. 24.

And the political campaign season continues. On Monday, Democratic Party delegates State College Mayor Ezra Nanes, Centre County Party Chair Margaret Swoboda, Braxton White and Laura Shadle are off to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The Dems held their annual picnic at the Blue Course Pavilion. State College Borough Council President Evan Myers held a fundraiser for Senator Casey for about 100 neighbors. Local Republicans will be holding their Deplora-Ball fundraiser at the Rolling Rails Lodge in Port Matilda on Sunday, Sept. 29.

Don’t forget: The last day to register to vote in the fall election is Oct. 21.

Penn State School of Theatre’s Center Stage, under interim director Prof. Kikora Franklin, will hold a Sneak Preview Celebration of its six-play season at the Playhouse Theatre on Friday, Sept. 13. This season will include: “John Proctor is the Villain,” by Kimberly Belflower, directed by Steve H. Broadnax III; “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” musical by Stephen Sondheim, directed and choreographed by Zack Steele, music directed by Ann Van Steenwinkel; “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying,” by Frank Loesser, directed and choreographed by Christopher Campbell, music directed by Joseph Ivan, “Love’s Labour’s Lost: The Musical,” based on Shakespeare’s play, adapted by Michael Friedman and Alex Timbers, directed by Christine O’Grady; “Alice in Wonderland,” based on the Lewis Carroll classic, adapted and directed by Jenny Lamb.

This season, Tempest Productions, under the direction of Cynthia Mazzant, will present “Twelfth Night,” “The Velveteen Rabbit,”“Hoarding,” “The Pouting Princess,” “A Midsummers Night’s Dream,” The Central PA Theatre and Dance Festival and various other community programs.

On Thursday, Malian musician Cheick Hamala Diabate was the featured artist during 3 Dots’ continued Secret Planet series during a block party on Pugh Street. One summer we lived in a remote village in Mali. We had no electricity, running water, lights, cellphones, cars or any other modern amenities. We ate in community and washed our clothes in the local river. The primary ambient sound we heard was the unenhanced call to prayer five times a day sung from the local mosque. Now through the creative programming of Erica Quinn, 3 Dots executive director, and Nicole Gargiulo, the director of community arts and programming, the music of the Malian desert came to Pugh Street. We are blessed by the diverse variety of the peoples of our beloved earth.

As we pause to reflect on simpler times, we remember, move-in day is this week and the election only a couple of months later.

Charles Dumas is a lifetime political activist, a professor emeritus from Penn State, and was the Democratic Party’s nominee for U.S. Congress in 2012. He lives with his partner and wife of 50 years in State College.