Penn State is famous for good reasons — the top-notch education it provides, its acclaimed research programs and, of course, Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lion football team, to name just a few. But alumni and people familiar with the University will quickly cite another claim to fame — University Creamery ice cream.
Many contend it is the best they have tasted, and for hundreds of thousands who come to the beautiful Centre County campus each year, no visit is complete without a trip to the Creamery. The main reason Creamery ice cream is so good relates to freshness. “Only an average of four days elapses between the cow and a newly dipped cone,” said Tom Palchak, Creamery manager.
So it seems only right that a new ice cream flavor was created to mark the University’s sesquicentennial. During a ceremony at Schwab Auditorium July 8 to kick off the year-long celebration, Penn State President Graham Spanier revealed the new flavor, appropriately named “Sesquicentennial Sundae.” It features chunks of fudge brownies and chocolate-covered peanuts in vanilla ice cream with a fudge swirl…
Flavor suggestions received included the good, the bad and the ugly. For instance, even though the recipe accompanying it sounded delicious, the University quickly rejected — for obvious reasons — the name “Nittany Lion Poop.” Other names that didn’t make the cut, for one reason or another, included Real Smeal Mocha, Happy Valley Vanilla, Founders’ Fudge, Chewy Pughy, Moldy Oldie, Old Mainstay, Scholar Chip, Pattee Cake, Old Mainiac, Nittany Lion Tracks, Cookies and Creamery, P.S. Moo, Nittany Lion Fur, Cement Building Block (recognizing current construction), Coaly Crunch, Cherry Sandusky, Joe-Pa Stachio, and, in honor of President Spanier, Graham Cracker Crunch.
No fixed plans. Not intent upon arriving.