Tourism funding handed out

By Nick Malawskey

UNIVERSITY PARK — In July, Miles Township will celebrate its bicentennial with a week of activities and the dedication of a local veterans monument.

Three months later, Bellefonte will host a national meeting of stamp collectors, attracting several hundred out of town guests to the area.

What both of these events, with their widely different audiences, have in common is that they both contribute to an important industry in Centre County — tourism.

Two years ago, visitors spent an estimated $352 million in the county. Tourism is considered the second largest industry in Pennsylvania.

In support of that industry, both the Miles Township and Bellefonte programs were among 28 local groups awarded tourism grants Wednesday from the Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau.

This year’s awards bring the total amount of local investment to almost $1.5 million since the program began in 2002, said Betsey Howell, executive director of the visitors bureau.

Raised by a tax on hotel rooms, the funding has a “trickle down” benefit to local nonprofits, she said.

In the case of the Miles Township bicentennial, the $2,500 grant will be used to publicize the township’s weeklong celebration of the local history.

With all of the activity scheduled in the Brush Valley region, “it’s an exciting year for Miles Township,” said Vonnie Henninger, a local historian and bicentennial organizer. Who got grants and how much

The grants, which totaled $223,975 this year, ranged in size from $1,200 for the Penn State School of Music, to $40,000 for the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, targeted toward the promotion of Arts Fest in State College and Arts Thrive on 45, an organization celebrating the arts and artisans located along state Route 45.

Other grant recipients were:

Alliance for Bellefonte Community Development, $10,000

Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania, $3,000

Central PA 4th Fest, $10,000; Center for the Performing Arts, $8,000

Centre County Grange Fair, $15,000

Centre County Historical Society, $15,000

Centre County Library and Historical Museum, $10,000

Centre Regional Recreation Authority/Millbrook Marsh, $3,000

Downtown State College Improvement District, $10,000 total

First Night State College, $5,000

Friends of the Pennsylvania Military Museum, $5,000

Historic Bellefonte Inc., $15,000; Jazz PA, $3,000

Mount Nittany Conservancy, $4,825

Nittany Valley Symphony, $7,500

Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture, $8,000

Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra, $5,000

Pennsylvania Centre Stage, $7,500

Philipsburg Revitalization Corp., $7,500

State College American Legion Baseball, $5,000

State College Baseball Club, $5,000;

The State Theatre, $10,000

Nick Malawskey may be reached at 235-3928.