COUNTY LIFE
Will he or won’t he? Groundhog Day on Feb. 2
Groundhog Day offers a touch of whimsy during the often bleak midwinter chill. Across the country, eager celebrants await a rascally rodent to determine if there will be six more weeks of winter or if the nation will receive an early reprieve from the cold.
It is fun to guess if an early spring is coming, and even more so to rely on a large ground squirrel to play meteorologist. To further enhance the Groundhog Day experience, burrow into these interesting facts about the holiday and the animal itself.
• The world can thank the Germans for the Groundhog Day tradition. The see-his-shadow concept was adapted from a German Candlemas Day tradition in which clergymen would bless the candles they needed for the cold season. If the candles brought a sunny day, there would be six more weeks of winter. However, clouds and rain signified that winter would end soon. Germans who settled in Pennsylvania in the 1700s brought the custom to America.
• Germans once used a hedgehog as their animal forecaster. When relocating to Pennsylvania, groundhogs were used because they were more common than hedgehogs.
• Punxsutawney Phil is perhaps most revered for his forecasting abilities. However, more than a dozen states have their own prognosticating groundhogs. These include Buckeye Chuck in Ohio, Birmingham Bill in Alabama and General Beauregard Lee in Georgia.
• Phil has been predicting the weather at Gobbler’s Knob for more than 130 years. This is quite a feat considering groundhogs typically live between six and eight years. Folklore indicates Phil sips a magical drink that will prolong his life for seven more years.
• Phil’s full name is Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather-Prophet Extraordinary.
• Groundhogs also are called woodchucks and are a species of rodent known as marmots. They typically weigh between 12 and 15 pounds. Woodchucks really have nothing to do with wood or chucking. The name stems from an Algonquian name wuchak.
• The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration says Phil has seen his shadow more times than not between 1887 and 2019. Statistically speaking, six more weeks of winter is often the norm.
• Groundhogs prefer to live in open country or at woodland edges. They are never far from a burrow made in well-drained soil. Most have summer and winter dens.
• Groundhogs are adept at predicting the arrival of spring, just not in the way people have come to know from Groundhog Day. Since they hibernate, when groundhogs emerge from their burrows, it’s a sure sign spring is on its way.
• The 1993 movie “Groundhog Day” starring Bill Murray helped solidify Punxsutawney Phil as a national hero and household name. Since then, crowds numbering as high as 30,000 have made the pilgrimage to see Phil in person.
Groundhog Day brings some levity to an otherwise uneventful time of year.
The Forestburg Community invites you to step into its charms and celebrate the Christmas season on Dec. 13.
There will be a full day of family fun activities to help kick off the holiday season. Santa Claus will be at the historic log cabin in downtown Forestburg from 3-5 p.m. to visit with the kids.
Forestburg Baptist Church will serve smores at the Christmas tree throughout the day. At Life Church from 11:30 to 2:30 p.m. there will be cookie decorating/fudge and wreath contests.
Stroll over to the community center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and enjoy the bake shop and kid’s activities. There also will be a chili cookoff from noon to 1 p.m. so come cheer on your favorite.
At the community fire hall take part in a cornhole tourney at noon with a $20 buy-in. The members of the Methodist church have planned an afternoon of bingo from 1-3 p.m.
Visit the live nativity at 6 p.m. at the Christmas tree, followed by the tree lighting at 6:30 p.m. The lighted parade will follow at 7 p.m. Guests can then enjoy a dance at the fire all after the parade.
Throughout the day there will be bounce houses at the cabin, food and shopping vendors, live music at the tree and Christmas movies at the community center. Bring the entire family and enjoy the day.
Pictured – Forestburg student council and National Honor Society members helped decorate the community preparation for Saturday’s events.
Members of the Bowie Amity Club and Maids & Matrons Club of Bowie are preparing for the Wreaths Across America at 11 a.m. on Dec. 13 where live Christmas wreaths will be laid on the graves of veterans at Elmwood Cemetery.
The public is invited to attend and help the club members lay the wreaths across the cemetery.
Wreaths Across American remembers and honors veterans across the nation through the laying of remembrance wreaths on the graves of the country’s fallen heroes and the act of saying the name of each one aloud as the wreaths is laid.
Many families have made this a holiday tradition to lay a wreath and take part in this special program honor veterans.
Winter’s chill and an eerie fog may have hung over Saturday’s 34th annual Fantasy of Lights Christmas Parade, but the community and parade participants shared the holiday spirit throughout the route.
Cindy Roller, executive director for Bowie Community Development which hosts the festival activities, laughed Monday morning that many parade-goers said the fog “created a holiday glow” for the event. There were 48 entries, but she added there were many more for example the jeep club had one entry with multiple vehicles.
Sip and Stroll welcomed lots of shoppers to downtown Bowie Saturday night as 27 participating vendors welcomed guests. Pancakes with Santa served about 350, while Elfin Magic provided fun for the all the families.
(Pictured above, photo by Justyne Roller0 Sister Act Connection claimed the Sweepstakes Award with their massive, colorful float, “I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.” The lighted hippo filled the float.
First place community went to Southside Baptist Church and second place to St. Jerome Catholic Church.
First place business went to Select Ready Mix with the Grinch riding on the back of a cement mixer. Pigg Towing took second place business.
The First Responder Award went to Montague Volunteer Fire Department. First place best decorated vehicle went to Jeepsy Soul Jeep and second to Angelia Richardson in second place.
Read the full story and see lots more photos in your Thursday Bowie News.
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