Happy Ground Hog Day!

The people in Punxsutawney, PA, waiting to see Phil’s Forecast

 Punxsutawney, PA, is the land of my ancestors.  Seriously.  Both of my parents were born there and lived in the area until I was two.  (Then they moved about 15 miles up the road to DuBois, where I grew up.)  There is a little section just outside Punxsy (that’s what the natives call Punxsutawney) called Burkett Hollow.  Burkett, for those who read this and don’t know, is my maiden name.  Burkett, in Punxsy, is as common as Smith is in other places.

So, in honor of my ancestors, I want to wish everyone a happy Ground Hog Day.  The little rodent saw his shadow this morning.  No matter what Phil does, there’s really always about the same number of weeks of winter, but its a tradition.  So we roll with it.

Here’s the “official prognostication:”

Phil Says “Six More Weeks of Winter!”

Phil’s official forecast as read February 2nd, 2009 at sunrise at Gobbler’s Knob:

Hear Ye Hear Ye On Gobbler’s Knob this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2009

Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators

Awoke to the call of President Bill Cooper

And greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths

After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers,

Phil proclaimed that his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers were World Champions one more time

And a bright sky above me

Showed my shadow beside me.

So 6 more weeks of winter it will be.

And, here’s a link to all things Phil.

 

 My 4 kids with a statue of Phil in Punxsutawney about 2 years ago.

5 thoughts on “Happy Ground Hog Day!”

  1. and is punxsutawney anything like in the movie, groundhog day? we love that movie. we used to have a groundhog day party every year and watch the movie and i made a groundhog cake. i always want to reinstate the tradition, but it seems to sneak up on me every year. also, every year, we wonder why we don’t just own the movie. we probably could’ve bought it four times over with the money we have spent renting it every february. i guess maybe it comes on cable somewhere too though- we just don’t usually have cable. anyway, happy groundhog day! if i wake up and it is groundhog day again tomorrow, i will go out and buy mouse traps first thing!

  2. Abby,

    Punxsutawney is like the town in the movie, however, they filmed someplace else–a town in Indiana, I think. They did go to Punxsy to get an idea of what the town is like. The movie has also influenced the way the town does things now, too. It used to be the Groundhog festival was held only in the summer, with just festivities on GH day itself. Now, they have events all three days of GH Day weekend itself.

    We own the movie on VHS, and we plan to buy it on dvd at some point. If we live in the same town next GH Day, we’ll have to have you over for a party. Of course, I hope you live somewhere else.

    Thanks for your appreciation of GH Day.

  3. I think I’ve mentioned that my bro works in Indiana, PA. Last time we visited him (on our way back from Houghton), we saw a huge old brick buidling in DuBois for sale. Looked like a school, maybe. I looked for a listing online but never found one. Hopefully someone was able to put it to good use. I hate seeing old buildings demolished for the sin of being old. Most of them are much more interesting than new ones!

  4. Jennifer, I just knew you wouldn’t let me down! Though you had a good excuse to skip your annual Ground Hog Day blog entry, since you were likely up late last night celebrating the Steelers’ Super Bowl win. I love that picture of the children — they look so cold.

  5. Mom,

    Yes. I have to do my annual Groundhog Day post. I was a little late today, though. We were hooting and hollering about the Steeler win last night, for sure.

    The kids were cold in that picture. It was taken in Nov 2007, and it was already cold in Western PA. Mark and I were commenting on the heights of all the children and how they’ve changed in just more than a year.

    Lenise,

    I didn’t remember that your brother lives in Indiana, PA, but I think the building you saw might be the old Wilson School, which is where I attended for 1st – 3rd grade. It is in Sandy Township on the south side of DuBois on Rte 119.

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