On the east side of campus, tailgating lot 41 sits perfectly central to Beaver Stadium, the Bryce Jordan Center, and Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. 

On Saturdays in the fall, each row of the cement parking lot is bursting with Penn State football fans arriving in cars, trucks, RVs, buses, or on foot to spend time with friends and family ahead of kickoff. 

There’s never a moment in lot 41 with no football being tossed, a hot dog rotating on a grill, or a memory in the making. 

For lifelong Penn State football fan Gwin Brower, lot 41 is where he’s spent nearly every fall Saturday of the last 30 years, earned a nickname more widely recognized than his real name, and created a tradition that’s integral to the gameday routine of hundreds. 

Brower, most frequently referred to as the “Jello Shot Man,” strolls lot 41 on each gameday in Happy Valley carrying a gallon-sized bag filled to the brim with dozens of jello shots. 

Brower attended his first Penn State football game with his father in 1968, and the McVeytown, Pennsylvania, native began to make the 40-minute drive to State College on Saturdays for the next three decades moving forward.

Three years later, Brower married his wife, Paula, and the pair raised their own Nittany Lion, Curtis, who attended Penn State as a part of the Class of 2000.

The Browers attended a wedding during Curtis’ freshman year in which the bride and groom provided jello shots for the guests. With their Penn State tailgate always in mind, Paula figured the alcoholic treat would be a fun addition to the family’s gameday experience.

From that day in 1996, no gameday was complete without jello shots. The tradition began with about 30 jello shots for the folks at the tailgate, and Curtis, a trumpet player in the Blue Band, would bring his friends and fellow musicians by to indulge in the pregame goodie.

“Over the years it just evolved,” Brower said.

Along with increased jello shot quotas, the scale of the tailgate grew exponentially.

Because of lot 41’s proximity to the South Tunnel, Penn State football players exited the stadium close to the Browers’ tailgate after games to head home. Tired, hungry, and often craving home cooking, football players flocked to the nearby, welcoming tailgate to fuel up before taking off for the night.

Ki-Jana Carter, Kyle Brady, O.J. McDuffie, and Gerald Hodges were regulars for years, and other Pennsylvania and Penn State notables like Lynn Swann and Graham Spanier stopped by, too. While the football players didn’t partake in jello shots, they were enveloped by the Browers for a home-cooked meal and comfort.

“A lot of guys like Ki-Jana and other people didn’t have family here all the time,” Brower said. “So they would come over and we were cooking and we’d give them food and it got to be the place to hang out.”

Years later, Carter and McDuffie still stop by to reconnect with Brower, emphasizing the importance of his lot 41 residency.

Beyond providing Penn Staters with a plate of warm food, Brower expanded his jello shot offerings outside of his tailgate. He became known as the “Jello Shot Man” for his routine of promenading throughout the lot and distributing jello shots to old and new friends, visiting team fans, and friendly faces.

Though he earned the term of endearment quickly, it wasn’t until 2005 that a family friend crafted a “Jello Shot Man” t-shirt for him. There have been many variations of the T-shirt since then, but Brower’s stardom has only expanded since.

“Nobody actually knows my name,” Brower said. “Close friends do, but people that I just pop into their tailgate would ask, ‘Hey, what’s his name?’ They have no clue. They just know me as the Jello Shot Man.”

Brower has habitual stops along his lot 41 route on gameday, making an appearance from the Jello Shot Man a principal part of a football Saturday.

“It’s like a staple that if I don’t show up, they think something’s wrong,” Brower said.

Though he gets pulled in several different directions throughout the lot, one thing is certain: Brower never returns to McVeytown with jello shots. For Saturday’s “White Out…energy” game against Illinois, Brower prepared 550 jello shots. His formula, tested to perfection over the last 28 years, calls for 200 jello shots for noon games, 400 shots for a 3:30 p.m. game, and 550 for a 7:30 p.m. game.

Brower estimates he makes around 2,100 jello shots a season and has been doing so — around that pace — for just over two decades. With about 50,000 jello shots to his name, Brower most definitely earned the title of Jello Shot Man.

He begins concocting the week’s assemblage on Wednesdays by heading to the store and collecting supplies. Then, on Thursday nights, he fills the refrigerator with two batches plus an additional batch on Friday evening.

“My wife, she hates me for the bottom half of our refrigerator,” Brower said.

A weekly yield of jello shots features six flavors: blueberry, peach, orange, mango, cranberry, and pineapple. Each flavor corresponds with blueberry vodka, peach schnapps, whipped vodka, tequila, apple whiskey, and coconut rum for a deliberately concocted delicacy.

Though the jello shots are the star of the show, it’s Brower’s kind demeanor and excitement to extend “Happy Valley Hospitality” that lasts much longer than the shot.

“I think some of the best memories are the people you meet and just how great the Penn State fans are,” Brower said. “I’m known as the Jello Shot Man, but it’s all about talking with people, conversation, and having fun.”

Brower has only missed around 10 Penn State football home games since acquiring season tickets in 1974 and uplifts an important role in the blue and white gameday experience in lot 41.

“People just know me,” Brower said with a chuckle.