Town of 6,000 prepares for onslaught

But for all the Dickensian recitations and cheerful caroling at the festival, held this weekend, it’s destined to serve as little but prologue for the circus headed to this quaint hamlet next week. Facing his victims for the first time since his Nov. 5 arrest, former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky returns to court Tuesday for a preliminary hearing on his 52- count child-molestation case.

That means hundreds of members of the national media, lawyers and others involved in the proceedings, and curious bystanders (1,339 members of the public applied for 100 available courtroom seats) are expected to descend on the county courthouse and downtown Bellefonte.