A 'silver' lining to impending Finals Week

A quarter-century of deliciousness! The power team of President Michael J. Reed and Timothy J. Mallery, assistant director of residence life and housing operations, steps up to the grill. On the wings of an eagle: Brian P. Foley flies into Finals Week, offering his new friend a shoulder to perch on. Foley is a freshman in building construction technology from Newtown Square. An evening of friendship (and furry friends) No stranger to crafting goodness, dining services worker Michelle L. Lose brings her skills to the grill. The designer of the Midnight Breakfast T-shirts: Melina K. Petrick, a dental hygiene student from Falls Creek! (Behind her, the KDR atrium teems with enthusiastic breakfast guests.) In addition to regular-size shirts, mini shirts were created for the stuffed-animal giveaways. Cozy company! Sporting original Midnight Breakfast T-shirts are Dining Services’ Amy S. Lingg (left) and Susan L. Bell. These “stuffies” are decked out in their own Midnight Breakfast T-shirts and happy to join human services & restorative justice students Kalie A. Kostelnik (left), of Harrisburg, and Dem L. Tennison, of Jersey Shore. Kostelnik has petitioned to graduate this month. Even “Elvis” is in the pancake house! (Dylan Francis Ceschini is lead vocal of “PCT Elvis and the Band,” winners of the 2023 Penn College Star competition. The East Freedom resident is enrolled in automotive technology.) Awaiting early arrivals: a table full of “stuffies” in a variety of animals that also received their own mini-sized Midnight Breakfast T-shirts and their own “bearth” certificates. Students could also select a heart to insert into their new stuffed animal. (“Courage” is certainly an element needed for finals!) Happy to be at the start of the line – where a lineup of Midnight Breakfast T-shirts await The queue begins to wind its way down a hallway of the Hager Lifelong Education Center. "President Mike" playfully gets acquainted with the evening’s high-tech tool: a spatula ... ... and flips a pancake in the air! A poster promotes the excitement of the evening. Just a few of the Midnight Breakfast crew! Did we mention bacon??? The "deans of the diner" work their short-order magic. From left are Jennifer McLean, dean of students; Anthony J. Pace, dean of enrollment and academic operations; and Joanna K. Flynn, dean of curriculum and instruction. A celebratory vibe pervades the KDR. Happy students and their stuffies parade through the food line. Dining-hall date night! Cuddled up to companions Tables full of friendship Showing off his late-night breakfast plate KDR hops with hungry students Enthusiastically distributing ice cream is Nate Woods Jr., special assistant to the president for inclusion transformation. Doggone it, they’re having fun! Michael I. McNary (left) and Luke M. Stitt pose for a photo. McNary, of Phoenixville, is a senior in emergency management & homeland security who has petitioned to graduate. Stitt, from New Cumberland, is a freshman in automotive restoration. A tradition 25 years in the making Pancakes: check! Bacon: check! Fruit: check! Ice cream: check! Avery W. Book, of Elizabethtown, was the winner of a basketball shootout game. He's a first-year student in heating, ventilation & air conditioning technology. (Photo by Dining Services' Noelle B. Bloom, assistant director) Another giveaway of the evening: coffee mugs featuring various characters from the Midnight Breakfast T-shirt