Members of the community gathered yesterday to reminisce and capture the history of State College with a little Grace.

State College resident Grace Holderman, 88, shared stories of her life in Nittany Valley at Centre Furnace Mansion, 1001 E. College Ave.

The Centre County Historical Society sponsored the presentation "State College According to Grace" as part of its "Remember When?" exhibit. The exhibit is a look at Centre County's past 200 years and provides an opportunity for members of the community to share their memories.

"Many of us had heard Grace talk before," said Jackie Melander, president of the Centre County Historical Society. "She's actively involved in the Mansion and knows so much about the State College community."

More than 60 people crowded together in the Mansion to hear Holderman reminisce about the way downtown used to be. "Grace did very well in her presentation," said Ilene Glenn of Lemont. "It's always fun to hear stories and while she missed a few things, she did very well." In her 60 years as a resident, Holderman had seen a lot of changes.

"What was once our safe, cozy, charming, clean place is now crisscrossed with highways, gaudy storefronts and eyesores where trees should be. But my goodness do we still love the place," Holderman said.

In her presentation, Holderman recalled the days when grocery stores delivered food right to the back door, rent for a two-family house was only $37.50 and students mailed their laundry home to their parents and received it a week later clean and pressed.

She poked fun at today's students and residents for their pronunciation of Heister street and inability to come up with creative cheers for sporting events.

Radio announcers and students need to learn the right pronunciation, which is "heester", according to Holderman.

She also claimed that current chants at football games are boring, compared to the "real" cheers of her time.

Originally from Reading, Holderman first came to State College in 1930 as a freshman at Penn State. She received a small scholarship of $300 for her first two years of school and worked her way through the rest. She received help from people who offered her room and board.

"Its unbelievable how these folks took care of me," Holderman said. "They accepted me so willingly despite the way the depression was going on."

During her time in school Holderman was well known for her ability to entertain and was the first female member of the Thespians.

After graduating in 1934, Holderman and her husband spent four years in Hollywood but ultimately came back to State College.

"State College had always been our favorite place," she said.