Maybe it’s because fall feels a little more mysteeeerious than all of the other seasons. But lately, I’m becoming aware of something interesting.

State College is full of secret trap doors.

“Laura, please elaborate. This sounds thrilling. And dangerous!”

Here’s what I mean.

What I’ve been noticing lately is how often I come across something unique, interesting, or unexpected, seemingly “by accident,” that continues to unwind into something even more unique, interesting, or unexpected.

It’s like stumbling across a wooden panel in the floorboards, slowly lifting it, and discovering the first glimpse of something curious and surprising. When you crawl down into the space and look around, you notice an entire world of remarkable people and new-to-you experiences that you had no idea existed.

For example, I was catching up with my friend (and Webster’s celebrity) Erica and she told me about a wonderful photography show by Zsuzsanna Nagy that she’d just experienced at The Workshop in Centre Hall. She said it was the best photo exhibition she’d ever seen, so I put it on my calendar and invited my friend Carolyne to go see it the following weekend.

I had never heard of The Workshop, let alone been there, which was the perfect setup for my Trap Door Experience.

Here’s how the night unfolded.

To start, I learned about The Workshop’s fabulously unexpected history. Vernon Garbrick, inventor of the fold up Ferris wheel (an object you may very well have never ever considered in your life, but will now do so with a “Huh, I never contemplated how one might transport a Ferris wheel!”), used this space as his actual workshop.

The experience of entering the building that night, being funneled through dimly lit halls and makeshift aisles formed by collected furniture, cluttered shelves, and cabinets, felt like moving through a time capsule.

It’s the kind of space that oozes with histories you’ll never know.

*dramatic pause*

(The Halloween spirit is really getting to me. Enjoy that one!) 😉

Eventually, we made our way to the arch ceilinged exhibition space.

The venue and artwork were the perfect tag team. And the accompanying soundscape, like the projected photographs, was abstract enough to be interesting, but familiar enough that it all felt warmly nostalgic rather than detached or lonely.

Long story short? I thought it was great!

And there were bowls of Halloween candy in every corner, which is one kind of art show food I can really get behind. (The stash of empty Twix wrappers that are still in my purse can affirm.)

As we meandered through the building, we bumped into a bunch of people Carolyne knew.

One of those people was poet Julia Spicher Kasdorf.

Julia, as I learned, wrote the lyrics for a musical celebrating Vernon Garbrick’s carnival-centric imagination and creativity. In the process, she got to know his nonagenarian daughter, Shirley, whose own daughter and granddaughter still sell funnel cakes from a stand that Shirley started as a teen.

So you see what I’m getting at here, right?

Go to an art show that you wouldn’t have known about if it wasn’t for that coffee date, eat candy you haven’t had since your trick-or-treating days, and learn fun history about creative thinkers and innovators in your town.

So should I just write this off as a very cool, although simply coincidental, State College experience? Maybe. But the reality is, now that I’m on the lookout for these first peeks under the floorboards, I’m finding trap doors all the time.

Mushroom aficionado Bill Russell holds court on Monday afternoons at Webster’s. Bring what you’ve foraged and he’ll teach you about it! I ended up sitting across the table from him a few Mondays ago because I decided to visit the Cheese Shoppe after a haircut a few weeks prior.

Last week, I attended a meet and greet event for Spotlight PA, an investigative reporting partnership of Pennsylvania news organizations that now has a StateCollege bureau. That in and of itself was fascinating, so imagine the additional delight when I found myself in a conversation with UAJA board member (and jewelry maker!) Wes Glebe, who taught me all about why our wastewater treatment facility is top of the line! Have you ever felt proud of your town’s wastewater treatment facility? I can now officially say I have.

Or my new friend Peggy. (You might remember her.) In between texts about our Christmas cactus blooming schedules and other plant updates, she shared that her son Kevin is a State College UPS driver. Now every time we see a delivery truck, we’re wondering if it’s him and are on the lookout for that meet and greet moment!

It’s all of these little breadcrumbs followed and moments of connection that add up to a deep and rewarding sense of community. And to me, that’s great news. Because it means there’s no One Big Thing you must do or One Person you must meet to feel a sense of belonging.

It takes time, curiosity, and a willingness to notice and follow interesting threads when you encounter them. But it’s amazing what you’ll find when you start looking!