Sept. 27, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - As morning broke on Sept. 3, dozens of families drenched in Penn State's blue and white spirit began to fill up the usually silent parking lot beside theLewis Katz Law Building.
Turning on their grills, pulling cold drinks from their coolers, and tossing a football around with their fellow tailgaters, it was a sight typical for any home game of Penn State's Nittany Lions minus the fact that the majority of the people in the lot were shorter than 5-feet tall and under the age of 13.
This year's first football game marked the opening of Penn State's new family-friendly tailgating section.
The lot's mission is to provide a safe, fun, and family-oriented way for people with small children to enjoy themselves before every Penn State football game. It's only right that tailgaters of every size have a place to socialize.
"This idea comes directly from listening to our fans," said Associate Athletic Director Greg Myford. "Many enjoy tailgating together as a family, but want a much more predictable atmosphere on game day, free of worry about whether or not your neighbors will be responsible with their tailgating before or after the game. So, we've created this area to be free of alcohol consumption, as well as profanity. There are plenty of families, especially with younger children, that love coming to the games, but want a more significant comfort to what the kids may see and hear during tailgating time. With this the first week of implementation, we'll be monitoring closely and gauging further feedback from fans who participate. The effort is all about taking the steps that keep the Game Day experience of our fans' - young and old, Penn Staters and visitors - a positive one."
Longtime tailgater, Sue Thomas, who came up with a family friend for the game agrees. She said she was pleased with the new installment.
"It's a lot more low-key. Usually when you go to the other spots you have a lot more people flying around with footballs," Thomas said. "But if you have a family with little kids this is definitely good."
The lot, located on the intersection of Park Avenue and Bigler Road, prohibits the use of alcohol, loud music, open flames, and many other things that pose safety issues for the future Penn Staters.
Another tailgater, mother of four, Cathy Bialt, was worried about those same safety issues when deciding to take her children tailgating. She had just decided to opt out of bringing them when a neighbor told her about the family friendlyparking lot.
"I'm glad my neighbor told me about it, the kids would be home with my babysitter if she hadn't," Bialt said.
The family drove up from New York to campus early in the morning. The Bialt's have done so for every home football game since they married, but this is the first time the children went along for the ride.
"We just wanted to come here before the game and have a cookout and do that sort of family thing other than the usual," Bialt said. "It's nice that now we have somewhere we can do that. We can enjoy ourselves with other adults and my kids can play with the other kids and enjoy themselves too."
Bialt said her and her husband usually like to get to the lot before they open so that they beat the crowd coming in, but this time they arrived a little later than they planned.
"I was worried that we'd be stuck in the line for a long while and it would be hard to get into the lot because we made it to campus pretty late," said Bialt. "But it was really easy to get to. It's a short walk from the stadium and it's a good environment for the kids. I like it. It really works out."
With all that convenience and ease you're probably just itching to get your hands on some tickets for the family friendly parking lot. Just call the Penn State Athletics Customer Relations Center at 1-800-NITTANY. Your order must be placed 10 days prior to the day of the game.
Rather make a personal visit to purchase your tickets? That's fine too. Just visit the Penn State Athletic Ticket office in the Bryce Jordan Center. Theoffice is open Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
It's clear that parents like the newest edition to the tailgating experience and judging by the scores of smiling faces in Nittany Lion T-shirts eating hot dogs and running around in the grassy part of the lot, I'd say the kids like it too.