State College Mayor Ezra Nanes officially renamed the borough the “City of THON” Friday for the entire 46 hours dancers remain standing.

Nanes’ proclamation is the latest in a renaming tradition that began in 2015.

S̶t̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶C̶o̶l̶l̶e̶g̶e̶ City of THON Mayor @EzraNanes and Borough Manager Tom Fountaine are now on stage at #THON2022 to wish dancers good luck.

— THONward State (@THONwardState) February 18, 2022

Borough Manager Tom Fountaine and his wife, Tamra, joined Nanes on stage to share their family’s experience fighting pediatric cancer. Their 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.

Later, Nanes officially fulfilled his proclamation and joked about how high the Bryce Jordan Center’s energy was already — one hour before dancers stand.

“I never thought anything could top the energy from the Billie Eilish concert last week, but this is doing it,” Nanes said.

Nanes also joked that he shares a birth year with THON, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Unsurprisingly, the mayor thinks the best has yet to come for both.

“We are just getting started,” Nanes said. “This is going to be the best year ever.”