Want a novel way to celebrate Groundhog Day this year that is also showing love to our environment? You are invited to join Martin Levy of Martin Levy & Associates and Century 21 Alliance along with his teammates in a Santa Rosa roadside cleanup. Festivities will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Groundhog Day, Wednesday, February 2 with all participants meeting at 1303 College Avenue. After watching a safety flick and getting into volunteer gear of helmets, gloves, goggles, reflective vests and being issued litter pickers and bags, you and the crew will work on Highway 101 northbound between College Avenue and Bicentennial. You must be 18-years-old to participate. Treats will be served afterward.  I can’t think of a better way to look for your own shadow.  For more information contact our offices at 707-303-3333.

What is a groundhog anyway?

I have heard about Groundhog Day, February 2, since I was a child; but I didn’t realize exactly what a groundhog was until recently. A groundhog is the same as a woodchuck. Want to see woodchucks? Just look at ads for an insurance company where two woodchucks are chucking a farmer’s wood into a pond. Those woodchucks are groundhogs.

So how does Groundhog Day work and where did it come from?

Groundhog Day is a day which always confused me. The concept is that a sleepy groundhog comes out of a place where he sleeps. If he sees his shadow, he rushes back into his cave and there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, he remains outside and starts his year, because he knows that spring has arrived early. It always struck me as backwards because the groundhog went in when the weather was nice and stayed out when it was cloudy or worse.

Then there is the fact that spring arrives on or near March 21 astronomically. So whether the groundhog decides to go back to bed or remain outside, the fact remains that the date of the spring equinox, this year on March 20^th, will always be at least six more weeks away.

From Wikipedia I read meteorologist Mike Randall’s mathematical interpretation. He said, “Since there are always six more weeks of winter after Groundhog Day, and the concept of early spring in the astronomical sense simply does not exist, then whenever the groundhog sees his shadow and predicts six more weeks of winter, the groundhog is always right. But when it predicts on early spring, it is always wrong. The results have an approximate 80% accuracy, the average percentage of times a groundhog sees its shadow.”

So where did this idea come from?

The idea stems from an ancient belief that hibernating creatures were able to predict the arrival of springtime by their emergence.

German immigrants known as the Pennsylvania Dutch brought the tradition to American in the 18^th century. They had once regarded the badger as the winter-spring barometer, but the job was reassigned to the groundhog.

Is there an official groundhog in the U.S.?

Many towns that celebrate Groundhog Day throughout North America have winter-predicting groundhogs, but in the U.S. the “official” groundhog is kept in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Every February 2, amid a raucous celebration starting early in the morning, “Punxsutawney Phil” as the groundhog is known, is pulled from his den by his keepers, who are dressed in tuxedos and top hats. Phil then whispers his weather prediction into the ear of his keeper, who then announces it to the anxiously-awaiting crowd of tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world. The keeper states that the group does not decide the outcome, “Punxsutawney Phil“ himself makes the proclamation.

According to the group in top hats known as the “Punxsutawney Groundhog Club,” Punxsutawney Phil is the only true weather forecasting groundhog. The others are just imposters. But there are many others from Nova Scotia to Texas, south to Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina, all the way to Colorado. While Wikipedia doesn’t say whether last year we had a short winter or not, they listed 21 groundhogs that made predictions. Thirteen chose an early spring and 8 chose six more weeks of winter. Punxsutawney Phil was one of the minority. Hum.

So why has this celebration become such a big party?

In 1993 Bill Murray starred in a comedy “Groundhog Day” which takes place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on Groundhog Day. The main character, coincidently named Phil, is forced to relive the day over and over until he can learn to give up his selfishness and become a better person. In popular culture, the phrase “Groundhog Day” has come to represent going through a phenomenon over and over until one spiritually transcends it.

One of the interesting parts of the movie includes some negative references to California. Phil (Bill Murray) is reporting on the weather during one of the early days of his reoccurring frustrating day. He says, “Somebody asked me today, ‘Phil, if you could be anywhere in the world, where would you like to be?’ And I said to him, ‘Prob’ly right here – Elko, Nevada, our nation’s high at 79 today.’ Out in California, they’re going to have some warm weather tomorrow, gang wars, and some *very* overpriced real estate. Up in the Pacific Northwest, as you can see, they’re gonna have some very, very tall trees.”

Since this movie the crowd at Punxsutawney has vastly grown and parties of all sorts have sprung up all over. Everyone wants to be in on the decision of whether there will be six more weeks of winter.

I can’t think of a better way to look for your own shadow than to join me and my team for our roadside cleanup.  Thanks in advance for your consideration and, if you can make it, your attendance.