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Penn students name a cow, ’Nova has a new bobblehead, and calendars for a cause

This isn’t the first time a Villanova-themed bobblehead has hit the shelves.

University of Pennsylvania Professor Simon Richter with Sustainabetty, in the middle, and other cows on The Floating Farm in the Netherlands.
University of Pennsylvania Professor Simon Richter with Sustainabetty, in the middle, and other cows on The Floating Farm in the Netherlands.Read moreCourtesy of Simon Richter

Penn students name cow on floating farm

University of Pennsylvania students have a bovine friend in the Netherlands.

The students visited the Floating Farm during the 2019 Penn Summer Program in Berlin and Rotterdam, led by Simon Richter, the Class of 1942 endowed term professor of German and environmental humanities. Thirty-five cows live on the farm — a fully functional farm atop a barge on the Merwehaven harbor in Rotterdam. It was created by Peter van Wingerden, CEO of Beladon, a company specializing in sustainable floating structures.

Richter later learned of a fund-raiser for the farm in which supporters could donate and name cows for the farm. He reached out to alums for donations and then enlisted the help of current students to suggest and finally vote on a name for the beast.

“ ‘Sustainabetty’ emerged as the winner,” said Richter.

Raising money and awareness for veterans with PTSD

Allebach Photography and some local men are out to raise money for veterans with PTSD with a “Guys in Gray Sweats" 2020 calendar.

The North Wales company, which specializes in boudoir photography, has donated the money from session fees to Meghan’s Foundation, a Bucks County nonprofit that provides free yoga classes and resources to veterans. And a portion of the calendar-sale proceeds will support Give an Hour, which provides mental health services to groups including military troops, veterans, and their families.

(The term “gray sweatpants” took off online a few years ago and is used as the male equivalent of lingerie. If you need more explanation, wait until the kids are in bed and Google it.)

The calendar is available online at boudieswag.com.

Who knew there was a National Bobblehead Hall of Fame?

You know you’ve made it when someone has designed a bobblehead in your honor.

Villanova University sports fans can now buy an “officially licensed, limited edition” bobblehead of the school’s mascot, Will D. Cat. The whiskered gentleman is portrayed holding two national championship trophies, with another at his feet, to commemorate the men’s basketball team titles from 1985, 2016 and 2018.

This isn’t the first time a Villanova-themed bobblehead has hit the shelves.

In 2015, Villanova’s “Piccolo Girl,” university band member and piccolo player Roxanne Chalifoux, was memorialized after a video went viral of her crying as she played Villanova’s school song following the team’s upset loss in the NCAA Tournament. There were also two other Will D. Cat bobbleheads made after the first two championships.

A limited number of the bobbleheads, which sell for $40, are available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s online store at store.bobbleheadhall.com.