 
GROUNDHOGS
DAYS
Groundhog Day, is
celebrated on February 2. It
stems from the ancient belief
that hibernating creatures were
able to predict the arrival of
springtime by their emergence.
On this day the groundhog, or
woodchuck, comes out of hole
after winter hibernation to look
for its shadow. If the shadow is
seen, it's a sunny day. And the
groundhog foretells 'six more
weeks of bad weather' and thus a
lingering winter. But spring is
coming if no shadow is seen
because of clouds. The groundhog
then behaves accordingly. It
goes back into the hole if the
weather turns bad, but stays
above ground if spring is near.
The German immigrants known as
Pennsylvania Dutch brought the
tradition to America in the 18th
century. They had once regarded
the badger as the winter-spring
barometer. But the job was
reassigned to the groundhog after
importing their Candlemas
traditions to the U.S. Candlemas
commemorates the ritual
purification of Mary, 40 days
after the birth of Jesus.
Thus weather prediction or
prognostication came as an
integral feature of Groundhog Day
tradition. This prediction owes
its origin to the European
tradition of Candlemas. There is
an old European supposition that a
sunny Candlemas day would lead the
winter to last for 'another six
weeks'. Also celebrated on
February 2, the was used to
commemorate the Purification of
the Virgin Mary. Candles for
sacred uses were blessed on this
day. Gradually the traditions at
this Candlemas came to associate
with them different folklores. The
German added the belief of an
animal, initially a hedgehog,
being frightened by his shadow on
Candlemas would foretell that
winter would last another six
weeks. This belief was brought in
America during the 18th Century by
the German settlers. These
settlers adopted the groundhog as
their weather predictor.
The Groundhog Day came into being
in North America during the late
1800s. Thanks to the combined
effort of Clymer H. Freas, a
newspaper editor, and W. Smith, an
American Congressman and newspaper
publisher. They organized and
popularized a yearly festival in
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the
State was populated predominantly
by German settlers. The festival
featured a groundhog named
Punxsutawney Phil which used to
foretell how long the winter would
last. This very popular event is
still being held and is called
Groundhog Day.
There has been a concerted effort
in popularizing and
commercializing the Groundhog Day
across the United States. Chuck
Wood is The Committee for the
commercialization of Groundhog
Day's official mascot. The movie
"Groundhog Day," has played a key
role in popularizing the schedule
of Events in Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania, on and around
February 2. Apart from
Pennsylvania, fascinating
Groundhog Day events are also held
in other states, especially,
Nebraska, Tennessee, Georgia,
Ohio, Arkansas, and California.
The Groundhog Day is also very
popular in Canada and Wiarton
Willy is the Groundhog that is
used to predict the length of
winter over there.
Test your knowledge of Groundhog
Day and groundhogs by playing our
matching game at:
http://www.mrsgraysclassroom.org/internet/groundhog/game1/game1.html
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