George Birse’s journey includes a childhood in Scotland, singing at Beaver Stadium, saving millions for Standard Steel, and enjoying the view from Valley View Village. But his greatest adventure may surprise you.

If you tailgated at Penn State football games in the ’80s—those golden home games that led to not just one but two national championships in 1982 and 1986—your day might have been made even better because of George Birse. He and a group of friends performed as the “Tailgate Troubadours,” a group of singers walking around tailgates and singing. Over the years, the group’s popularity grew as they participated in parades and pep rallies. They were featured in a halftime interview with Keith Jackson on ABC and appeared in documentaries about the Paterno years. For George, who says one of his favorite things is to “sing, sing, sing,” his days in the Tailgate Troubadours were a delight, but he’s quick to name something else as his greatest adventure. 

George was born in Arbroath, Scotland in 1938 and at 18, he was an apprentice at a local manufacturing plant while taking classes and getting certified in mechanical and then electrical engineering. 

Around that time, he met a girl named Lily who lived across the street from his grandmother. “We were all pedestrians in those days in Scotland,” he says. “It was a great way to get to know all the families who lived near us.” The two began to date, then fell in love. They got married in 1962. 

A few years later, the Birses left Scotland and moved to Canada for a period of time before they moved to Standard Steel in Lewistown, PA with mountains reminiscent of his homeland.

After relocating, George was at a golf course when he met two local men in the gas industry who liked to play music on ukeleles in their spare time. They started to meet up to play golf and play music. “They particularly liked my singing because of my funny accent,” he said with a laugh. “When I sing Danny Boy with my Scottish brogue, it’s alluring, OK?”

The trio started to sing at Beaver Stadium, when management handed George tickets for Penn State football games, they struck up some tunes before the game. Soon, their group grew to include George, Bill Torchia, Joe Martin, Bob Huff, and Dave Knox. They sang some favorites (like the alluring ‘Danny Boy’), along with some songs that they wrote themselves.

 In addition to singing with the troubadours, George also sang with a local group, the Four Decades, who were called upon to perform the National Anthem at various Penn State sporting events. He joined the Lewistown barbershop chorus with Valley View resident Wilbur Ulsh. “I like to sing, sing, sing,” he said simply. “You inflate your lungs and breathe out easy. Your brain has to remember all the words. It’s healthy for you. You make people happy.”

It was Wilbur who told George about the cottages at Valley View and in 2020, George knew it was time for a change.   “There are a lot of people here who we know,” he said. “Standard Steel people. People like Wilbur, who I sang with for all those years. Plus, I like seeing the mountains. Coming here felt good.”

So, with all the adventure packed into George’s life, from learning to sail on Scotland’s coast, to moving half a world away, to singing the national anthem in the shadow of Mount Nittany, what does he consider his greatest adventure? The answer might surprise you. 

“I had a quadruple bypass in my 50s,” George said. “And I didn’t expect to survive, but I did! “That early brush with death has given me a light approach to life.  I don’t let things bother me and through it all, singing keeps me breathing, my head remembering, and my ears harmonizing.”

This article is part of our 2024 Spring & Summer Newsletter. Find other articles or view the online newsletter here.