Well, it's Groundhog Day! I don't know about you, but I enjoy it more than a lot of other holidays. It's fun to watch the hoopla in Punxsutawney on TV each year. And it's a nice little break in our routine.
I mentioned to my younger co-worker that making the trip to Punxsutawney for Groundhog Day was on my bucket list, and she looked at me like I was nuts (even more than usual). She'd never seen the activity on Gobbler's Knob on TV, and in fact had never watched Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. Too bad.
Anyway, as is my custom here, here's some of the Lorain Journal's coverage of Groundhog Day over the years, starting in 1926 and going forward in ten-year increments.
No mention of Punxsutawney Phil in this article from Feb. 2, 1926. But Herr Adolph Groundhog predicts an early spring.
It had been a tough, old-time winter by the time Groundhog Day 1936 came around, as indicated in this article from Feb. 3, 1936. "The groundhog" isn't mentioned until a few paragraphs from the end.
The
Lorain Journal had Groundhog Fever in 1946. First, it printed an article on the eve of Groundhog Day. It mentions the upcoming event in Punxsutawney, Pa. near the end.
Then on Feb. 2, 1946 the paper mentioned the groundhog in two separate articles. In the United Press article (
below), the groundhog in Punxsutawney is not yet known as Phil. "Thus Chuck (he's also a woodchuck, you see) maintained his 76-year-old tradition as weather prognosticator," it notes.
But the report made as part of a larger article about a "Zero Cold Wave" in Lorain mentions dueling groundhogs in Quarryville, Pa. and Punxsutawney, Pa. (We'll have to ask Keystone State's No. 1 son Don Hilton as to which one he endorsed over the years.)
No national coverage of Groundhog Day in the
Lorain Journal for 1956. "If there were any groundhogs in Lorain and if they did come out of hibernation yesterday and if seeing their shadows had anything to do with it, Lorainites can look for spring any day now," said the article which appeared on Feb. 3, 1956. "There were no shadows to be seen in Lorain yesterday."
In 1966, the
Journal created some anticipation of Groundhog Day with this cute photo of "Mr. Groundhog" that appeared on Feb. 1, 1966. But unfortunately there was no mention of the prediction that was made in the paper on Feb. 2nd. (Phil did see his shadow, though.)
Groundhog Day 1976 brought gusty winds and near-zero temperatures to the area as noted in the article below that appeared on Feb. 2, 1976. But even with the detailed account of the weather and how it affected area cities, the article still made it a priority to mention our favorite groundhog. It notes, "Speaking of Pennsylvania, February 2's favorite myth emerged in Punxsutawney from his electrically heated burrow, saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter. Phil, the groundhog, thus upheld a tradition 90 years old."
