The spotlight will be on Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania early Friday morning, when handlers of a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil will announce whether he saw his own shadow and predicts six more weeks of winter or an early spring.
Thousands are expected to attend the annual event that exploded in popularity after the 1993 Bill Murray movie, “Groundhog Day.”
It’s part of a tradition rooted in European agricultural life, marking the midpoint between the shortest day of the year on the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It’s also a time of year that figures in the Celtic calendar and the Christian holiday of Candlemas.
And in eastern and central Pennsylvania, where people of German descent have been watching the groundhog’s annual emergence from hibernation for centuries, there’s a tradition of groundhog clubs and celebrations that are independent of Phil.
Punxsutawney is a town not too far from me in western Pennsylvania. Punxsutawney Phil's predictions always appear in the local media, often along with comments on the accuracy of his predictions. I will say that when he forecasts an early spring, the forecast is well-received by the majority of local citizens, except for ski resort operators and patrons.
When we had an exchange student living with us, she went to Gobbler's Knob with a group of her high school classmates on Groundhog Day. She thought it was an interesting bit of Americana. We still have a coffee mug she brought back for us that declares Punxsutawney as the weather capital of the world.
I really like the movie Groundhog Day and rewatch it every few years. I think it's a very sweet RomCom, a category I like more than my wife (she's much more an action film fan).
Big Al
-------------------------------- Money seems to buy the most happiness when you give it away.
Why does everything have to be so complicated, all in the name of convenience. -ShiroKuro
A lifetime of experience will change a person. If it doesn't, then you're already dead inside. -MarkJ
Posts: 7466 | Location: Western PA | Registered: 20 April 2005
