Mike and Jennifer enjoyed prime parking during last year’s Groundhog Day celebration while awaiting the prediction of Punxsutawney Phil.
By Mike Wendland
February 2015
All eyes this month will be on the tiny town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. More specifically, attention will be focused on a hilltop called Gobbler’s Knob, where every February 2, a shy little rodent named Phil is pulled out of his makeshift den to tell the world whether winter will last another six weeks.
Punxsutawney is a great motorhome destination, and last year, not only did Jennifer and I make our way there in February, we actually received permission to drive our motorhome to Gobbler’s Knob and spend the night.
Granted, the average motorhome owner won’t be able to do this. We attended as members of the media. Most of the other media vehicles were there to set up their equipment and be ready to cover the big event. But after snagging my place in front of the stage, testing my camera, and locking down my tripod, I found myself becoming pretty sleepy. Besides, the weather was rainy and cold. So, I made my way back to our motorhome, and as my media brothers and sisters huddled in cars and TV news trucks, I actually caught a few hours of cozy, dry, warm sleep.
The event drew an estimated 25,000 spectators from all across the United States, many traveling in RVs, like us. Although area campgrounds had closed for the winter, the local Walmart welcomed RVers.
The festivities at sunrise on February 2 are just the culmination of a couple of days’ worth of events in the town. We were glad to use our motorhome as a home base to get out of the weather as we shopped and visited the many tourist attractions.
Our time on Gobbler’s Knob began a little around 11:00 the night before, when we made our way through the closed gate and found a parking spot up top. I was awakened about 3:00 a.m. when the public started making their way to the Knob, bused up from Walmart and other parking areas in town. A band kept playing “Ring of Fire” in front of a huge bonfire as the cold rain turned the entire Knob into a muddy mess. No one seemed to mind.
Jennifer was able to sleep through the noise. As for me, sensing there was a party going on, I couldn’t resist getting up and venturing out.
Before you get the wrong idea, this party is pretty tame. No alcohol is allowed. Folks can’t even bring in backpacks or chairs. But this has become such a huge spectacle of an event that it just seems to have a bizarre energy of its own. That’s the only way I can describe a gathering outdoors at 3:00 a.m. in the middle of a cold February rainstorm. Very bizarre. But strangely fun.
The star, of course, is the groundhog officially known as “Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary,” according to the Inner Circle, the board of directors of the Groundhog Club (www.groundhog.org), the local group that manages all things related to February 2, as well as the care and handling of the 20-pound groundhog.
The Inner Circle guys, in their dark coats and top hats, are the town’s ambassadors. They strolled along downtown streets all weekend, greeting the tourists.
And tourists there were.
We were surprised how many people indicated that they had come there because it was on their bucket list.
A young married couple from Fort Myers, Florida, traveled the farthest of those we met. A guy from Atlanta, wearing a muskrat coat and a top hat, told us he made the trip because February 2 is his birthday, and he had always wanted to spend it in the place where February 2 is the most important day of the year. A schoolteacher from New Jersey left her husband home to watch the Super Bowl. She came with some girlfriends. Apparently like so many others, coming here for the events of Groundhog Day had been on her bucket list, too.
Those events include craft shows, chain-saw carving demonstrations, and live broadcasts all weekend from the Weather Channel, which endorses the town’s official motto as “the weather capital of the nation.”
Hayrides took place downtown, as well as hat decorating contests. And at midnight, in front of the community center, a crowd gathered for a countdown to cheer in Groundhog Day. At 6:30 a.m., a presunrise fireworks display took place on Gobbler’s Knob — in the rain.
At the community center in town, repeated showings of the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day were offered. Indeed, that 1993 movie, more than anything else, helped to transform February 2 of each year from a quaint event to a mega happening. Before the movie, maybe 3,000 people came to Punxsutawney for the annual prognostication. Since the movie, the number of tourists in town for the big day swells the normal 6,000 population to as many as 30,000.
I find that very ironic, because the movie wasn’t even filmed in Punxsutawney. It was shot in Illinois, which the producers somehow deemed to be more photogenic. No problem. Punxsutawney loved the movie, even though it is Woodstock, Illinois, that appears on the screen. Go figure.
Punxsutawney is a town built around a rodent. Selling souvenirs such as Groundhog Day hats, mugs, T-shirts, mittens, trinkets, and chain-saw carvings seems to be a leading industry. The Chamber of Commerce reports that Groundhog Day alone pumps $1 million into the local economy.
The actual prognostication event happens at sunrise every February 2. The stage has a little wooden podium built in the shape of a stump, and Phil is brought from his downtown burrow to a box built into the podium. At the appointed time, one of the members of the Inner Circle brings him out, “consults” with him, and determines whether he saw his shadow.
This whole tradition started around 1860 as a result of a superstition held by the German immigrants who settled this area: if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on February 2, the holiday of Candlemas, winter will last six more weeks.
Punxsutawney really is a charming place. Locals tell me that people visit year-round. Phil, when not on the Knob for Groundhog Day, can be found in a see-through burrow in a downtown square. During the summer, RVers stay at two nearby commercial parks and several state parks in the area. As we found during our visit, folks are delighted to see visitors, and we were welcome to park our RV anywhere.