Blue/White Tribute for Joe Paterno
Ever since Joe Paterno was fired November 2011, by the Penn State Board of Trustees, his legacy has been in question. Penn State has yet to honor the man who was not only a great coach, but also a humanitarian & philanthropist. Sadly, Joe Paterno is no longer with us and alumni have decided to take matters into their own hands, by honoring Joe Paterno this Saturday, April 21st, during the first Blue/White game without Joe.
Honoring Joe with a Sea of Blue/White Carnations
As so many of these ideas start, this started first in our Facebook Group. A member suggested an idea of honoring Joe Paterno (affectionately called "JoePa") by laying bouquets of blue and white carnations at the foot of Joe's bronze statue, outside of Beaver Stadium. The member actually volunteered to drive the flowers up to State College and reverently place them herself.
Then another member, who lived further away and couldn't participate, suggested that maybe a local florist might volunteer - if there were enough orders - to take orders over the phone and place all the orders at the statue.
A local State College member called florists and found that Woodrings, with shops in Bellfonte and State College, would be willing to support such a tribute.
The idea took hold and spread like wildfire. It went viral within the Penn State alumni community and soon there were postings in several Facebook groups and members were posting the Joe Paterno tribute news on their personal profiles.
By the following day, even the local news was involved and local television station WJACTV aired a 6 PM news segment about the tribute. Emails have since indicated that there will be one massive arrangement of 409 carnations with an appropriate sash for the number of JoePa's wins. In addition there will be more ordered carnations, plus people bringing their own, some will be coming from across the State!
Woodring's is now doing a very brisk business in carnations and because their delivery will be inside the protected area, arrangements have been made for them to have an escort to the statue. This escorted delivery of Joe Paterno tribute flowers will be first for Woodring's. In addition to coverage by local network WJACTV, the Centre Daily Times, there will also be coverage by the Associated Press and the Big Ten Network.
The Board of Trustees has not honored Joe Paterno, but his true friends and supporters will!
How You Can Join in the Tribute
There's not much time left before Blue/White Weekend in State College, but if you'd like to help honor Penn State legend Joe Paterno, here's how:
Orders can be placed to Woodrings using their (800) 627-6737 telephone number. There is no minimum order, from what we've been told. Cost for a dozen blue/white carnations is $25 (plus tax). This price includes the dying of blue carnations, delivery to the statue and a personalized card.
To participate, orders must be in by Friday afternoon, at the latest. Flowers will be delivered early Saturday morning.