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[ Wednesday, Feb. 3, 1999 ]
Phil says: Early spring
PHOTOS: J.M. Boyer
Thousands of Groundhog Day fans traveled to Punxsutawney to see (or not see) Phil make his prediction.
Thousands of fans celebrate Groundhog Day
By DARYL LANG
Collegian Staff Writer
PUNXSUTAWNEY -- Celebrity groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, speaking through members of the local Groundhog Club's Inner Circle, did not see his shadow yesterday morning and predicted an early spring. That was enough to draw about 20,000 people to the annual early morning Groundhog Day ritual on Gobbler's Knob. Of course, the celebration also featured a hefty dose of music, dancing and drinking. At 3:55 a.m., onboard the shuttle from the Punxsutawney Bi-Lo parking lot to the Knob, open bottles of beer circulated among students packed into a steamy school bus. "I'm gonna be back at 10:15. I have a 10:15 class. I'm on the dean's list, man," said Jen Marchakitis, a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Marchakitis and several of her friends then crooned an improvised Groundhog Day song to the tune of "Jingle Bells." A group of students from Grove City College said they might be a bit hung-over, but they would try to be back on campus for chapel at 9 a.m. This is not your father's Groundhog Day. Carl King, 55, of Boston, recalls interest in the event being so low in 1961 that he was one of only 10 people willing to appear in a taped Groundhog Day newsreel. Brothers Carl and Jon King, 50, of Philadelphia, grew up in Punxsutawney and decided to return for Groundhog Day this year.
Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow on Groundhog Day yesterday which traditionally means spring will arrive early.
Judging by the "We Are! Penn State!" chants that occasionally broke out in the crowd, plenty of Penn State students also made the foggy hour-and-a-half drive from State College.
Chris D'Amico (graduate-meteorology) was visiting the groundhog for the first time.
"He's always right," D'Amico said. "Meteorology can't go wrong with Punxsutawney Phil."
Ryan Scott (senior-general science) and Dave Wilburn, 21, of State College, came to Punxsutawney because it was a "new experience."
"I want to commune with nature," Scott said, gazing into a campfire near the crowd.
"We like small furry animals," Wilburn added.
On the muddy slope at Gobbler's Knob, busloads of spectators swelled the crowd to about 20,000 by 7 a.m., according to Groundhog Club estimates.
The turnout was about the same as last year, but slightly larger than expected for a rainy weekday.
Tom Demko, Jefferson County sheriff, said Groundhog Day spectators are fairly well behaved, but he acknowledged, "They didn't come to a church service. They came here to party."
The anxious crowd erupted in cheers upon hearing the groundhog's prediction.
In 113 years of prognosticating, yesterday was only the 14th time Phil forecasted an early spring.
Phil's verdict followed a lavish ceremony, in which top-hatted men pulled the groundhog from a box and interpreted his squeaks in Groundhogese.
"It's just fun," said Barney Stockdale, burrow manager and a member of the Inner Circle, explaining why so many people visit the groundhog.
Marķa Caruana, a Rotary Youth Exchange student from Buenos Aires, watched the spectacle in awe and said she was having fun.
"It's something I've never seen," Caruana said. "I can't believe I'm here."
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