Families and alumni will travel to State College this weekend for the opening football season festivities, but no one has traveled as far as Santa Claus, who will make a special appearance at Football Eve tonight.
Santa will stroll the streets around Beaver Stadium before the annual event, greeting Penn State fans because his holiday, Christmas Eve, isn't for another four months.
Close to 25,000 fans are expected to attend Football Eve, a type of celebration no other schools host, said Guido D'Elia, Penn State's football communications and branding director. At 6 p.m. Football Eve will kick off the 2008 football season for players, students, faculty and alumni with games, prizes and food outside the stadium. Beaver Stadium's gates will open at 7 p.m. and a pep rally inside the stadium will follow at 7:45 p.m.
"The number of people who come to this event has grown year after year," D'Elia said. "It's great because it teaches the freshmen the cheers and songs so they are prepared and understand their roles in Penn State's student section."
Kelly Burns, a member of the Great Show Squad, the marketing committee for the football team, said they've been working hard for this event.
"We've been handing out Frisbees, fliers, and there are big signs around campus to remind students to go to the event tonight," Burns (junior-marketing) said. "Football Eve is going to be a great way to commence the 2008-2009 football season."
Jerry Song (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said he plans to attend the event, even though he did not get football tickets. He added he's looking forward to the activities outside but is especially excited to see the famous Penn State head coach.
Joe Paterno will speak inside the stadium and two of three new football videos will be unveiled for the Penn State fans. D'Elia said one video is directed entirely to the students and the other is an update of the 2007 "Gladiator" video.
"The video that is directed towards the students is called 'We Will, ' " he said. "But we're saving the third football video to debut at the beginning of the Coastal Carolina game on Saturday."
In addition to Paterno's speech, the Blue Band will perform, along with the Penn State cheerleaders and the Lionettes. Also, three freshmen will attempt to kick an extra point in hopes of winning their semester books for free.
To inspire the fans and current players, the undefeated 1968 and 1969 teams will also make an appearance during the pep rally.
Zach Martin (junior-crime, law and justice) said he thinks the best part of Football Eve will be getting the student body together, and Emily Merti (freshman-microbiology) agreed.
"Seeing all of us as a whole in Beaver Stadium for the first time this year is going to be an awesome experience," Merti said. "I'm really looking forward to being a part of the Penn State student section."
