Mayor Ron Filippelli, Tom & Tamra Fountaine, Officially Declare State College ‘City Of THON’
State College mayor Ron Filippelli officially renamed the Borough the “City of THON” Friday for the entire 46 hours dancers remain standing.
Filippelli’s proclamation is the latest in a renaming tradition that began in 2015.
Borough Manager Tom Fountaine and his wife Tamra introduced the Mayor and shared their family’s experience fighting pediatric cancer. The couple’s oldest son, Tommy, is a childhood cancer survivor who was diagnosed in 1998. Tommy graduated from Penn State and the Penn State College of Medicine, and is now a pediatric oncologist.
Tommy’s younger brother, Adam, founded student THON organization FOTO in 2009 in honor of his older brother.
“It is the entire family that goes through that journey,” Tom Fountaine said.
Filippelli then addressed the crowd.
“As mayor of the Borough of State College, I have the privilege of attending many worthwhile events,” he said before making the official proclamation. “But none with as big a heart as THON.”
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