Sign of early spring from groundhog Phil

Press, 7 February 1986, Page 26

Sign of early spring from groundhog Phil

NZPA-AP Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog billed as the great seer of seers on matters of winter and spring, failed to see his shadow at dawn this week, thus predicting an early spring. About 1500 people cheered as the groundhog was pulled at dawn from his electrically heated burrow at Gobblers Knob, outside the western Pennsylvania town of Punxsutawney. James Means, president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, said the groundhog told him that cold weather would abate early this year. It was only the seventh time in 99 years that the Punxsutawney groundhog has failed to see his shadow and has thus predicted an early spring. The last time he made that prediction was 1983. If he had seen his shadow, folklore has it that six more weeks of winter would follow.

The groundhog, which is always called Punxsutawney Phil, appeared more sleepy than wise as a Punxsutawney businessman, Malcolm Dunkel, his

official handler, pulled him from the man-made hole. Cheering Phil on were residents, festive college students and tourists from as far away as Minnesota.

Many of the spectators stood for hours in fog and a chilly overnight drizzle, waiting for the groundhog’s prediction. The groundhog’s prediction actually comes from the club’s select inner circle, a dozen tuxedoed businessmen who diligently carry on the tradition started in 1887. The fun is based on Scottish tradition coming from the Christian feast of Candlemas on February 2. “If Candlemas be fair, there be two winters in the year,” the saying goes. In the late 1800 s, the feast appealed to Punxsutawney’s German-born farmers, who hunted and ate groundhogs during the summer and praised the animal during the winter. For the record, the national weather service in a long-range forecast predicted colder and wetter than normal weather throughout most of the north-east and midwest for February, March and April.