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Penn Staters have lived by the pre-game mantra "We Tailgate with the Best" for years. Now, a brand new competition is seeking out the best of the best. On November 2nd against the fighting Illini of Illinois, the competition will crown one tailgate in Happy Valley, Tailgate of the Year. The Tailgate of the Year competition was created as a startup this year by a former Penn Stater who hopes to take the competition nationwide next year.
The competition began with the first game of the season as fans submitted videos of their tailgates to be voted on online. The field was narrowed down to six finalists who will now solicit votes until November when they will compete in a live tailgating competition. Fan voting accounts for the largest majority of the score, but judge’s ratings on creativity, participation, amenities, and school spirit as well as a cornhole and cooking competition will also factor into crowning the ultimate tailgate of the year.
One of the six tailgate finalists belongs to a group of Paternoville Alumni. All of the coordinators of this tailgate are former Paternoville Officers and their weekly tailgating group consists of current Nittanyville campers, other former Paterno-villers, as well many of their fellow alumni, family and friends. Part of the incentive for being crowned Tailgate of the Year is that the winning tailgate gets to select a charity of their choice to receive a $1,000 contribution courtesy of the competition. The Paternoville Alumni have selected Team Kayla as their charity. Kayla Nakonechni was recently diagnosed with brain cancer going into her senior year at Penn State, just a few months after dancing in THON. Kayla has a huge support system of family, friends, and doctors who have rallied around her as "Team Kayla", because of her infectious smile and always positive attitude. As a Nittanyville camper, PSU football is a huge part of Kayla’s Penn State experience. Despite her ongoing treatments, she has been able to make it to several tailgates and games this season.
The PSU community has displayed their support for Kayla with a purple "Team Kayla" banner in the first row of the student section, Whiteout Cancer t-shirts, and more.
The Paternoville Alumni tailgate group has been doing everything they can to win over the fan vote, even featuring a life size replica of the Beaver Stadium tunnel gates at their last tailgate. To help this tailgate win the fan vote and take the first step towards securing the $1,000 donation for Team Kayla, they need YOU to log on to www.tailgateoftheyear.com and vote for their tailgate. They are featured as "Finalist #2 Paternoville Alumni" and you can vote once every 24 hours on multiple devices (phones, tablets, lap-tops, and work computers). The group would like to thank you in advance for all of your support. Please check out their video on the website and log on to vote for them each day!!
WE ARE… PENN STATE
WE ARE… TEAM KAYLA
You can find out more about Team Kayla and how to help support her family by searching for @TeamKayla37 on Twitter or Team Kayla on Facebook.
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