| SPRING 2003... |
ALUMNI SOCIETY NEWS
Freshman Receives Alumni Society Award for Service
If you've seen a student searching through campus trash cans at night, don't be alarmed. This isn't a fraternity prank nor an act of personal desperation. Rather, it is one student's way of making a difference in the community and for the world. Since beginning his college career at Penn State Altoona last fall, freshman
Gabe Tilove has immersed himself in several high-impact community service endeavors, including his efforts at recycling plastics.
 A freshman from Hulmeville, PAa., in Bucks County, Tilove is planning on majoring in environmental studies. He recently took the initiative to unofficially expand Penn State Altoona's recycling efforts to include plastics. From September to late November, Tilove spent ninety minutes each night, six nights per week, searching through campus trash cans for plastics. He then would place them in his car and drive to a local recycling facility. He estimates that he has taken more than seventy large-size black plastic trash bags to the facility.
While searching for the plastics, Tilove often is asked by students what he is doing. He takes time to explain, attempting to raise awareness and sensitivities about the importance of recycling. Through his recycling efforts, Tilove is trying to change behaviors and practices through his own sacrifices and actions. He performs his labor of love without any expectation of financial compensation or personal recognition.
Tilove is a shining example that one person can make a difference in the world. To faculty and staff on campus, he is viewed as an individual whose service to Penn State Altoona has enhanced the reputation of the institution and stimulated increased involvement of students, instructors, administrators, and alumni in the life of the campus. And for that service, he has been selected as the recipient of the 2003 Penn State Altoona Alumni Society Student Award for Outstanding Service.
Tilove's community commitment extends even further. As a member of the Board of Directors of Blair County Heritage, Inc., Tilove is currently involved in two projects. The first, known as "The River Project," will restore a working train stop in Tyrone. Plans call for the beautification of the site and restoration of the bridge leading to the site. During the project, Tilove will join other volunteers in cleaning brush and then planting evergreen trees to prevent erosion.
The second project sponsored by the Heritage Corporation will result in the restoration of the Tyrone YMCA Auditorium. In addition to assisting with fundraising efforts for the project, Tilove has been asked to enlist the services of the Penn State Altoona String Orchestra for a future concert.
Tilove also is a volunteer at the Second Avenue Baptist Church in Altoona where he and three other Penn State Altoona students interact and supervise children ages 10 to 12 who visit the church one night per week after school. The program is open to any child, but participants generally are latch-key children. The children often are looking to spend time with anyone who will show interest in listening to their daily activities. For Tilove, the most rewarding aspect of his involvement is showing the children that there are people in the world who care about them.
As a recipient of the Alumni Society Student Award for Outstanding Service, Tilove was recognized at the Student Awards Ceremony in May, and his name has been inscribed on a plaque that is permanently displayed on campus.
Alumni Society Spotlight: Steve Bickley
Considering the active nature of his family and the significant demands of his career in the financial sector, the degree to which Steve Bickley
has immersed himself in his community is little short of amazing. While others of his generation reach for the nearest excuses to help explain their lack of participation in social, civic and service organizations, Bickley cites a litany of reasons why he has chosen to sacrifice his available free time for the benefit of his neighbors.
 "I truly enjoy being active in my community," stated Bickley, a Hollidaysburg resident and 1990 Penn State graduate now in his first year as a member of the Penn State Altoona Alumni Society Board of Directors. "I feel it is our responsibility to give our time and talents back to our community. It is up to us as citizens to make our towns and cities better places to live today, as well as for all our children and future generations."
A stock broker with UBS PaineWebber, Bickley has crafted an exemplary community service record. He has been a member of the Hollidaysburg Area YMCA Board of Directors for six years, serving two-year terms as president and treasurer. He also has filled leadership roles in the Hollidaysburg AMBUCS, offering direction to the organization first as vice president and then president. Bickley also has served on various committees for the Chamber of Commerce and, until a year ago, was a board member at Calvary Cemetery.
"I plan to be even more active in my community as I grow older," Bickley stressed. "In doing so, I hope to instill the same ethics and values in my children."
The father of two sons, ages 11 and 5, Bickley also has dedicated himself to their interests, coaching AYSO Soccer, HAYFA Football, Little League Baseball and YMCA Basketball.
"My real passion comes in working with children," Bickley remarked. "Whether it is coaching a baseball or football team, or serving on the board at the YMCA, making a difference in the life of a child is rewarding. Seeing a child set and achieve a goal, helping them overcome obstacles, and teaching them fair play and values are true-life victories."
Bickley has approached his service on the Alumni Society Board in much the same way he has viewed his contributions to the community at-large.
"I really enjoyed my years at Penn State, and I am now at a point in my life where I feel I am able to be active and give something back to the University," said Bickley, a Penn State Altoona student from 1986-88. "I appreciate and enjoy the opportunity to serve on the Alumni Society Board."
Alumni Society Spotlight: Brendan Kelly
The typical Penn State alumnus begins an affiliation with the University during the college years and fosters it throughout a lifetime. Brendan Kelly traces the start of his affiliation to Penn State as a grade school student in State College more than 35 years ago, when his father began taking him to football games at Beaver Stadium.
 In those days, the stadium was one level and formed a horseshoe with wooden bleacher seating in the South endzone, a far cry from the state-of-the-art facility of today. Those still were heady times for a wide-eyed youth and Kelly has never forgotten them. The treks to Beaver Stadium with his father, J. Kevin '55, a former Penn State Altoona basketball player, instilled in Kelly a deep desire to pursue a college education at the University. After graduating from Bishop Guilfoyle High School in Altoona, Kelly concentrated his academic efforts on an associate's degree program in computer science at Penn State Altoona.
Now an alumnus who has maintained an active presence at Penn State Altoona over the last 20 years, Kelly's affinity with his alma mater has led him to service on the College's Alumni Society Board of Directors.
"Looking back, my interest in Penn State sports continues to solidify my attachment to Penn State and all that is offered from this great school," stated Kelly, Highway Superintendent for the City of Altoona.
Kelly proudly recounts meeting Penn State football players such as All-America running back Charlie Pittman during father-and-son banquets sponsored by the State College Knights of Columbus organization. At one such event, Kelly won a brand new football, which he immediately had autographed by as many players as he could locate. Kelly attended junior high with future Penn State gridiron stars Paul and Matt Suhey, and a few years later, while attending Penn State Altoona, Kelly experienced the thrills generated by the Nittany Lions' march to the 1982 national championship.
Today, Kelly remains connected to the University through participation in a variety of programs sponsored by the College. He regularly returns to Ivyside Park to attend the Distinguished Speaker Series and Cultural Events Series. His appreciation of the idyllic setting is as keen today as it was two decades ago.
"The Penn State Altoona campus atmosphere is something all in this area should discover, absorb and enjoy," Kelly stressed. As he begins his first year on the Alumni Society Board, Kelly is committed to supporting the sponsorship of events and programs that will re-connect alumni to the College so that they too may enjoy a lifelong affiliation with Penn State that is as fulfilling as his continues to be. n
In celebration of the 2003 Penn State Alumni Association National Service Week program, the Penn State Altoona Alumni Society sponsored a Penn State Creamery Ice Cream Social at Valley View Home, a long-term care facility in Altoona. Ten members of the Society's Board of Directors scooped ice cream and spent time visiting with residents. The Society also fulfilled its quarterly Adopt-a-Highway commitment to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in April. The Society's two-mile stretch of highway leads to and borders the College.
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