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- Story Listed as: True Life For Adults
- Theme: Drama / Human Interest
- Subject: History / Historical
- Published: 01/22/2025
The Groundhog Weather Prophet Extraordinaire
Born 1950, M, from Sparta, il, United States.jpeg)
Some believe the tradition of Groundhog Day may have originated during the Neolithic era, between 4300 and 2000 BC. The Groundhog Day we celebrate in USA today is believed to have originated from a combination of ancient European weather lore, the medieval Catholic holiday of Candlemas, and Pennsylvania German traditions.
Ancient European weatherlore traditionally used animal behavior to predict the weather. When the German settlers came to America in the 1700s, they brought with them the medieval Catholic holiday of Candlemas, now known as The Presentation of the Lord. On Candlemas Day, celebrated on February 2nd., Christians would take their candles to church to be blessed for good fortune in the winter.
The German settlers incorporated the tradition of using animals, mostly the hedgehog, to predict the weather. There were no hedgehogs, though, at the time in Pennsylvania, so they made do with the groundhog.
The first Groundhog Day Celebration was created in 1887 by Clymer Freas, a newspaper editor and member of the Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania Groundhog Club. Freas, declared the groundhog the only true weather-forecasting ground hog. Their groundhog was given the name “Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary”.
They chose February 2nd as Groundhog Day because it’s the day of Candlemas, a Christian festival that celebrates the day that marks the midway point between winter solstice and the spring equinox. Punxsutawney Phil’s debut performance produced no shadow, so an early spring was predicted.
Year after year, the newspaper editor continued to write about their special ground hog, embellishing its accomplishments. Other newspapers across the country picked up his stories. Soon everyone was looking to Punxsutawney Phil for predictions of when spring would arrive.
Illinois, my home state, has its own groundhog prognosticator.
We call him Woodstock Willie. His history began as a result of the 1993 movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray. The movie was filmed in Woodstock, Illinois. The weather prognosticator’s history began when local citizens Cheryl Wormley, an independent publisher, and Mike Palmquist, a local businessman and fanatic of the film, crossed paths on February 2nd. 1994. They were disappointed that the community did not take advantage of that fact and decided that there needed to be some kind of celebration in 1995.
One of the movie’s extra and the Groundhog Day committee chairman, Rick Bellairs, helped organize the celebration to keep the spirit of the experience alive. The 1st event was breakfast, held in 1995 with around 25 people in attendance. In 1996 the celebration included tours of the filming sites. In 1997 lines from the movie were performed in costumes, the 1st chili cook-off happened, and Harold Ramis led the movie tour. The 1st prognostication was made on the square in 1999.
The movie Groundhog Day was about Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania’s Groundhog Day celebration, but the town did not have, in the eyes of the movie makers, the right setting. Harold Ramis, the director and co-writer, said: “We didn't use Punxsutawney for the film because Punxsutawney itself didn’t have a real town center that looked very good on camera, so we wanted a town that looked perfect so the town you’ll see is Woodstock, Il.
We scouted all of southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois looking for the perfect town and we pulled into Woodstock just the way the van pulls into town in the movie. It was the last town we saw, and we looked at this little town square and thought ‘aw’, this is perfect. This is what Punxsutawney should look like.”
Several hundred people attend the annual Woodstock Groundhog Day Festival each year. The festival has evolved into a nearly weeklong event. It draws visitors from as far away as Alaska and even Europe.
Woodstock Willie makes his weather report about 7 a.m. His predictions, like Punxsutawney Phil, are 40% accurate.
As for me, I am hoping the groundhog weather prognosticators do not see their shadows. I am not in favor of more winter.
The Groundhog Weather Prophet Extraordinaire(Ed DeRousse)
Some believe the tradition of Groundhog Day may have originated during the Neolithic era, between 4300 and 2000 BC. The Groundhog Day we celebrate in USA today is believed to have originated from a combination of ancient European weather lore, the medieval Catholic holiday of Candlemas, and Pennsylvania German traditions.
Ancient European weatherlore traditionally used animal behavior to predict the weather. When the German settlers came to America in the 1700s, they brought with them the medieval Catholic holiday of Candlemas, now known as The Presentation of the Lord. On Candlemas Day, celebrated on February 2nd., Christians would take their candles to church to be blessed for good fortune in the winter.
The German settlers incorporated the tradition of using animals, mostly the hedgehog, to predict the weather. There were no hedgehogs, though, at the time in Pennsylvania, so they made do with the groundhog.
The first Groundhog Day Celebration was created in 1887 by Clymer Freas, a newspaper editor and member of the Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania Groundhog Club. Freas, declared the groundhog the only true weather-forecasting ground hog. Their groundhog was given the name “Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary”.
They chose February 2nd as Groundhog Day because it’s the day of Candlemas, a Christian festival that celebrates the day that marks the midway point between winter solstice and the spring equinox. Punxsutawney Phil’s debut performance produced no shadow, so an early spring was predicted.
Year after year, the newspaper editor continued to write about their special ground hog, embellishing its accomplishments. Other newspapers across the country picked up his stories. Soon everyone was looking to Punxsutawney Phil for predictions of when spring would arrive.
Illinois, my home state, has its own groundhog prognosticator.
We call him Woodstock Willie. His history began as a result of the 1993 movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray. The movie was filmed in Woodstock, Illinois. The weather prognosticator’s history began when local citizens Cheryl Wormley, an independent publisher, and Mike Palmquist, a local businessman and fanatic of the film, crossed paths on February 2nd. 1994. They were disappointed that the community did not take advantage of that fact and decided that there needed to be some kind of celebration in 1995.
One of the movie’s extra and the Groundhog Day committee chairman, Rick Bellairs, helped organize the celebration to keep the spirit of the experience alive. The 1st event was breakfast, held in 1995 with around 25 people in attendance. In 1996 the celebration included tours of the filming sites. In 1997 lines from the movie were performed in costumes, the 1st chili cook-off happened, and Harold Ramis led the movie tour. The 1st prognostication was made on the square in 1999.
The movie Groundhog Day was about Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania’s Groundhog Day celebration, but the town did not have, in the eyes of the movie makers, the right setting. Harold Ramis, the director and co-writer, said: “We didn't use Punxsutawney for the film because Punxsutawney itself didn’t have a real town center that looked very good on camera, so we wanted a town that looked perfect so the town you’ll see is Woodstock, Il.
We scouted all of southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois looking for the perfect town and we pulled into Woodstock just the way the van pulls into town in the movie. It was the last town we saw, and we looked at this little town square and thought ‘aw’, this is perfect. This is what Punxsutawney should look like.”
Several hundred people attend the annual Woodstock Groundhog Day Festival each year. The festival has evolved into a nearly weeklong event. It draws visitors from as far away as Alaska and even Europe.
Woodstock Willie makes his weather report about 7 a.m. His predictions, like Punxsutawney Phil, are 40% accurate.
As for me, I am hoping the groundhog weather prognosticators do not see their shadows. I am not in favor of more winter.
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Denise Arnault
01/25/2025Thanks Ed. I never knew all the history of this, and was not aware that there were other groundhogs vying for fame.
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
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Ed DeRousse
01/25/2025Thank you for commenting. Prognosticating groundhogs are all over the country. I bet there may even be one near you.
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