How did Groundhog Day begin?
Posted February 1, 2013 8:16 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Wiarton Willie and Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam will be on the lookout for signs of spring on Saturday morning, but how did Groundhog Day begin?
According to folklore, if a groundhog sees his shadow on the Feb. 2 holiday, he’ll flee to his burrow, heralding six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, it means spring’s around the corner.
Most experts suggest the tradition began when German settlers brought their tradition of Candelmas to North America in the 1700s.
Feb. 2nd is supposed to be the mid-point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. According to legend, if the weather was good on that day, the rest of the winter would be stormy and cold.
If not, the coldest season of the year would be over soon and farmers could start to think about planting their crops.
Eventually a hedgehog – not the more traditional creature used today – was added, and the story of seeing his shadow began.
But Groundhog Day owes its current status not to superstition, but to – what else – commercial reality. A newspaper editor named Clymer Freas came up with the idea in Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Spirit in 1886. It wound up being so popular, the legendary Punxsutawney Phil was born, in an event at Gobbler’s Knob that’s been marked ever since.
Knowing a good thing when they saw one, the town of Wiarton decided to get in on the act, launching its own prognosticating furball in 1956.
It’s been the largest tourist event in the area ever since, and has only overshadowed, no pun intended, its more famous American cousin once – in 1999, when Willie was discovered dead minutes before his annual prediction was to be delivered.
Since then, dozens of small towns in every part of North America have taken up the banner. Among the other groundhogs that compete with the more famous pair:
- Nova Scotia: Shubenacadie Sam
- Brandon Manitoba: Brandon Bob
- Alberta: Balzac Billy
- Kleinburg, Ont.: Gary the Groundhog
- Birmingham, Alabama: Birmingham Bill
- Marion, Ohio: Buckeye Chuck
- St. Louis: Chester
- Dunkirk, New York: Dunkirk Dave
- West Virigina: French Creek Freddy
- Georgia: General Beauregard Lee
- Sun Prairie, Wisconsin: Jimmy the Groundhog
- Long Island, N.Y.: Malverne Mel
- Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Octarara Orphie
- Vermont: Peewee, the Woodchuck
- Hollis, New Hampshire: Pennichuck Chuck
- North Carolina: Sir Walter Wally
- Staten Island, N.Y.: Staten Island Chuck
- Unadilla, Nebraska: Unadilla Bill
No one’s saying if any of these animals are ever accurate. But while spring may not come right away, one thing is sure. For the towns that use the tradition as a tourist lure, the money gives them a warm feeling that could last until May.
