Sunday, Feb. 2, might be Groundhog’s Day, but Lebanon County’s Uni had plans Sunday morning – he’s off to church.
So the local marmot, lovingly maintained by Union Kanaal Grundsau Lodsch #17, broke his hibernation Saturday morning, Feb. 1, and took his annual trek to Myerstown Recreation Park on South College Street, where at 8 a.m. he floated down the Tulpehocken Creek for the 44th time.
A crowd of dozens gathered on the cold but sunny morning for the free event, with coffee, donuts, and camaraderie to share.
Uni is short for Union Canal—Tulpehocken Creek being once part of the titanic transportation corridor which coursed for a time through Lebanon County, its imprint still visible at numerous sites, including the historic hand-hewn tunnel just north of Lebanon city.
Read More: The rise and fall of the Union Canal: A tale of ambition, struggle, and ingenuity
The float might last just few minutes, but all the while Uni is kept safe as he is towed down the creek, the watchful eye of lodge members ensuring the rodent stays dry for his forecast.
Uni is the ward of the Eastern Lebanon County chapter of the Grundsau Lodsch, one of 17 groundhog lodges located in eastern Pennsylvania, all of which are dedicated to preserving the region’s Pennsylvania Dutch roots.
A big part of that preservation is carrying forward the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect, which directly descended from the language of German, French, and Swiss immigrants to the region in the 1700s and 1800s.
After finishing his float, Uni was lifted to his prognostication pedestal of choice – a picnic table in the park – where he began his annual snapshot analysis of the sun.
Uni’s methodology is simple: If he sees his shadow, we’re due for six more weeks shadow, otherwise it’s an early spring. According to lodge members, Uni has never been wrong since his forecasts began in 1981.
Fittingly, the forecast is delivered yearly first in Pennsylvania Dutch, and then translated for the rest of us. Uni’s forecast was first delivered and shared in Pennsylvania Dutch by lodge member Donald Hickernell, the designated Uni whisperer for this year’s event. Hickernell also translated the marmot’s meteorological outlook into English.
Then, the forecast was made. Since Uni saw his shadow this year, the meteorological outlook is thus: Six more weeks of winter. The groundhog has spoken.
Some historical perspective
Groundhog Day – although observed throughout North America and popularized by the 1993 movie starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell – has deep roots in the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition.
According to an article collected by the Library of Congress for its American Folklife Center project, Groundhog Day “is celebrated in many places in the United States and Canada, with an emphasis on tongue-in-cheek humor and ceremonious proclamations. It is best known among people whose ancestors spoke German, especially the Pennsylvania Dutch.”
The holiday sprouted from an ancient European pagan holiday known as Imbolc, which was later Christianized as the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, the Irish feast of St. Brigid, and Candlemas. “But the tradition of predicting the weather persisted through many of the holiday’s variations,” the article notes.
“Unfortunately, we don’t know that much else about how ancient Celts celebrated Imbolc, but its importance as the first day of spring persisted to living memory,” it states. “Weather prognostication, then, became associated with the beginning of February during ancient times, and the tradition persists until today. But this still leaves us in the dark as to the groundhog and his role in the process!”
In Europe, notably, the forecasting tradition belonged to the humble badger, rather than the groundhog, “but the traditions are otherwise almost identical.” The European badger, like the American groundhog, is “a small, hibernating, forest-dwelling mammal known for being very shy, and it was only natural for German-speaking immigrants to America to substitute the groundhog for the badger.”
Groundhog Day customs have led to “a fascinating development in Pennsylvania Dutch country: the ‘Groundhog Lodges,’ a loose organization of social clubs focused on the maintenance of Pennsylvania Dutch language and culture. The lodges, which hold meetings called ‘versammlinge,’ at which participants speak only Pennsylvania Dutch, have existed since the 1930s.”
There are plenty of groundhogs marking the occasion throughout Pennsylvania. Punxsutawney Phil, in western PA, has garnered the most fame — likely in large part due to the classic Bill Murray film. Lebanon County also boasts a second furry meteorologist: Mount Gretna’s Grady, who has been making forecasts since 2018. (Grady, for the record, did see his shadow when making this year’s forecast.)
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