It’s Groundhog Day, and as (mostly) children of McHenry County, we’re obliged to blog about it. We love Groundhog Day. We absolutely love Groundhog Day. And you know what? Everybody else does too.
We can hear you now. Really? You say. I think Groundhog Day is dumb. Well, maybe you’re the dumb one, because get a load of how much fun the rest of us are having. From Wikipedia, under “Regional Celebrations:”
United States
Mid-Atlantic
The Slumbering Groundhog Lodge, which was formed in 1907, has carried out the ceremonies that take place in Quarryville, Pennsylvania. It used to be a contending rival to Punxsutawney over the Groundhog Day fame. It employs a taxidermic specimen (stuffed woodchuck).
In Southeastern Pennsylvania, Groundhog Lodges (Grundsow Lodges) celebrate the holiday with fersommlinge, social events in which food is served, speeches are made, and one or more g’spiel (plays or skits) are performed for entertainment. The Pennsylvania German dialect is the only language spoken at the event, and those who speak English pay a penalty, usually in the form of a nickel, dime, or quarter per word spoken, with the money put into a bowl in the center of the table.
In Milltown, New Jersey, Milltown Mel was purchased in 2008 in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, by Jerry and Cathy Guthlein, and lived in a cage in the Guthleins’ back yard. Mel’s first event was at the family business, the Bronson and Guthlein Funeral Home, with later events moved to the American Legion Post, with free coffee and doughnuts served afterwards. Mel died in 2021.
Stonewall Jackson predicts at Space Farms Zoo and Museum.
Essex Ed the groundhog and Otis the Hedgehog predict at Turtle Back Zoo.
Great Neck Greta, of Great Neck, Long Island, New York, predicted in 2020.
Quigley, of The Hamptons (resident of the Save the Animals Rescue Foundation), predicts at Quogue Village Fire Department.
Staten Island Chuck is the stage name for the official weather-forecasting woodchuck for New York City, housed in the Staten Island Zoo. In 2009, Chuck bit then-NYC-Mayor Mike Bloomberg, prompting zoo officials to quietly replace him with his daughter Charlotte. In 2014, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, famously dropped Charlotte during the ceremony, visibly disturbing many of the children present for the event. Charlotte’s untimely death a week later prompted rumors she was killed by the fall, although the zoo later said this was unlikely to be the cause of Charlotte‘s demise. As a result, Bill de Blasio has not participated in the tradition since.
Dunkirk Dave (a stage name for numerous groundhogs that have filled the role since 1960) is the local groundhog for Western New York, handled by Bob Will, a typewriter repairman who runs a rescue shelter for groundhogs. Will is adamant that Dunkirk Dave does not actually predict the date of spring because that is fixed by calendars, but instead predicts the harshness of the remainder of winter.
French Creek Freddie is West Virginia’s resident groundhog meteorologist. A resident of the West Virginia State Wildlife Center in French Creek, West Virginia, Freddie made his debut in 1978, and boasts an accuracy rate of approximately 50%. On Groundhog Day, 2022, Freddie predicted six more weeks of winter, with the mayor of Buckhannon and members of the community in attendance.
Midwest
In the Midwest, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, is the self-proclaimed “Groundhog Capital of the World”. This title taken in response to the Punxsutawney Spirit’s 1952 newspaper article describing Sun Prairie as a “remote two cow village buried somewhere in the wilderness…” In 2015, Jimmy the Groundhog bit the ear of Mayor Jon Freund and the story quickly went viral worldwide. The next day a mayoral proclamation absolved Jimmy XI of any wrongdoing.
Buckeye Chuck, Ohio’s official State Groundhog, is one of two weather-predicting groundhogs. He resides in Marion, Ohio.
Woodstock Willie, in Woodstock, Illinois, the shooting location for the 1993 film Groundhog Day.
The South
In Washington, D.C., the Dupont Circle Groundhog Day event features Potomac Phil, another taxidermic specimen. From his first appearance in 2012 to 2018, Phil’s spring predictions invariably agreed with those of the more lively Punxsutawney Phil, who made his predictions half an hour earlier. In addition, Phil always predicted correctly six more months of political gridlock. However, after being accused of collusion in 2018, Potomac Phil contradicted Punxsutawney Phil in 2019 and, further, predicted two more years of political insanity.
Birmingham Bill, at Birmingham Zoo, was “taking a break” from predicting in 2015.
In Raleigh, NC, an annual event at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences includes Sir Walter Wally. According to museum officials, Wally has been correct 58% of the time vs. Punxsutawney Phil’s 39%.
Elsewhere in the American South, the General Beauregard Lee makes predictions from Lilburn, Georgia (later Butts County, Georgia). The University of Dallas in Irving, Texas has boasted of hosting the second largest Groundhog celebration in the world.
Canada
The day is observed with various ceremonies at other locations in North America beyond the United States.
Due to Nova Scotia’s Atlantic Time Zone, Shubenacadie Sam makes the first Groundhog Day prediction in North America. “Daks Day” (from the German dachs) is Groundhog Day in the dialect of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
In French Canada, where the day is known as Jour de la marmotte, Fred la marmotte of Val-d’Espoir was the representative forecaster for the province of Quebec from 2009 until his death in 2023. A study also shows that in Quebec, the marmot and groundhog (siffleux) are regarded as Candlemas weather-predicting beasts in some scattered spots, but the bear is the more usual animal.
Wiarton Willie forecasts annually from Wiarton, Ontario.
Balzac Billy is the “Prairie Prognosticator”, a man-sized groundhog mascot who prognosticates weather on Groundhog Day from Balzac, Alberta.
Nanaimo a ferry port city on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada present Chopper, Marlu, and Van Isle Violet, all wild Vancouver Island marmots, for forecasts, via the Marmot Recovery Foundation.
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God bless the groundhogs. Phil and Willie and all the rest.
