A group working to honor the memory of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno in downtown State College has planned a candlelight vigil for next Tuesday in front of the landmark "Inspiration Mural" at College Avenue and Heister Street.
Students light candles spelling out "Joe" on the steps of Old Main for a candlelight vigil in memory of legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno last January. JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News
The vigil, organized by
is planned for 7 p.m. Jan. 22, to mark the first anniversary of the famed coach's death after a brief battle with lung cancer.
Organizers plan to light at least 409 luminaries, enough to represent each of the on-the-field victories Penn State's football teams logged during Paterno's head coaching tenure.
As each bag is lit, a message - now being collected via the group's Facebook page - will be shared from participants who have volunteered a memory of how Paterno affected their life.
Event organizers, who have also launched an ongoing effort to build a Paterno memorial walkway made of brick, stone and granite fronting the outdoor mural, said they organized the vigil as a way to create some public sharing of respect for the legendary coach.
"We just wanted to create a space for people to pay their respects while still respecting the privacy of the family," said Melinda Wright.
Information on that memorial walkway can be found
.
The vigil appears to be the first public ceremony connected to the anniversary of Paterno's death.
The date is complicated by the stormy end to Paterno's coaching career after the November 2011 arrest of his former assistant, Jerry Sandusky, on child molestation charges, and Paterno's own admission that he wished he had done more to try to stop the abuses along the way.
A spokesman for the late coach's family said tonight that family members have no public events planned, and there is nothing scheduled on the Penn State calendar of events.