Under the baobab: State College celebrates Pride, Juneteenth and the arts this month
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown just celebrated their 125th anniversary. Bishop Bartchak of Altoona-Johnstown presided over a packed house in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Altoona last Sunday.
The State College Borough Council also recently issued a proclamation in celebration of Pride Month. In 1969 the New York City police raided the Stonewall Club in Greenwich Village, a gay dive linked to the mob, which catered to the underage gay and trans street kids. At the time, homosexuality was illegal. There were periodic raids on gay clubs and massive arrests. Usually, when people got arrested, they would peacefully pay their fines or serve their sentences. But not this time. It was the era of civil rights and antiwar demonstrations. People fought back. They collectively decided they weren’t going to take it anymore.
While hanging out in Andre’s, our favorite lower east side bar, we got word about the protest. When we arrived at Stonewall the unorganized crowd had grown into a vociferous assembly. The police had called for back-up but so did the activists. There were several hundred demonstrators. This spontaneous protest grew into a movement that transformed society.
The activism of the gay pride movement helped save our communities from the continued ravages of the AIDS epidemic, helped transform gay identity into being legal and acceptable, and helped bring about the legalization of same sex marriage.
Our State College Pride parade and festival has grown to be one of the most popular events in our community. It will be held on Saturday, June 13. Love is love is love.
The State College Borough also issued a proclamation commemorating the seventh Juneteenth, 2026, “Roots, Rhythm, and Resilience: Celebrating Our Legacy.” The celebration will take place on Friday, June 19, and Saturday, June 20, hosted by the State College Borough, the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State and The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau. Juneteenth begins with an Arts and Crafts Exhibition at Woskob Family Gallery at 6 p.m. Friday, followed by a Block Party on the 100 Block of Fraser Street on Saturday, June 20, from noon to 6 p.m.
The Central PA Theatre and Dance Fest will feature a number of performances: Tempest Studios’ “Death of a Salesman,” staring Jeff Brown as Willy Loman from June 5 to 14; a reading of the original play, “Evensong,” by Mary Gage on June 9, “VanDance Soirée” by VanDance; the Central PA Playwriting Fest production of “The Blitz Sisters” by Jon Vickers Jones on June 10 at 7 p.m.; Jim Colbert’s Writers Café performs “Commonwealth: Songs from the Keystone State”; “Pride Reads!” at Webster’s Bookstore Café on Saturday, June 13 at 4:30 p.m.
Also as part of the festival, PSU Centre Stage will present “Wild Child” at the Downtown Theatre from Thursday June 11 at 7:30 p.m. to Saturday, June 13. The Central PA Dance Workshop’s Children’s Ensemble will present “An American Tail” at 3 p.m. at The State Theatre. On Friday, June 12 “Investigator Storytime” will be at the Schlow Library at 10:30 a.m.; Happy Valley Improv will perform “Friday Night Improv” at The Blue Brick Theatre at 7 p.m.; Sock and Buskin Theatre will perform “The Rat,” at 5:30 p.m. at 3 Dots Downtown.
The Rhoneymeade Fest kicked off at Manny’s downtown on Hiester Street/East End Social on Thursday with performances and events at Centre Hall all weekend. Richard Sleigh launched Lemont Village’s Friday Summer Concert series.
Special Olympics PA began with the opening ceremony at Medlar Field Thursday. Women’s basketball coach, Tanisha Wright, was the honorary opening ceremony chair. Steve Jones and James Alexander were co-emcees.
WPSU premiered their film “The Whiskey Rebellion” at The State Theater. A panel led by WPSU Director of Production Mindy McMahon, included writer- director, Kristian Berg, and Rob Windhorst, Sam Komlenic and Brady Crytzer.
Stay strong. We are not alone.
Charles Dumas is a lifelong political activist, a professor emeritus from Penn State, and was the Democratic Party’s nominee for the U.S. Congress in 2012. He is a Lions Paw honoree. He lives in State College with his wife and partner of over 50 years.