It’s been a more than decade since Mount Joy discovered its own Groundhog Day prognosticator: Mount Joy Minnie, who always wears a jaunty spring bonnet.
She joined a long line of groundhogs in the business of predicting the weather.
Go back to 1908, when the Hibernating Governors of the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge spotted Octoraro Orphie in Kirkwood and heard his first prediction.
Rewind even further to 1887, when adventurers made the first official trek to Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney in search of a groundhog named after King Phillip.
To go back to the very beginning, you need to time-hop to the 1830s and head to nearby Morgantown, where a shopkeeper wrote in his ledger that he expected his German-speaking neighbors to watch for groundhogs on Feb. 2. That is the first documented mention of Groundhog Day.
The notion that a groundhog can predict the weather can be traced back to Europe. Hibernating animals were thought to have prophetic dreams, and people turned to bears and badgers to learn more about the weather, says Patrick Donmoyer, director of Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University.
In the New World, Pennsylvania Dutch immigrants continued the tradition with groundhogs.
Why Feb. 2? Early February is halfway through winter, a time to take stock of supplies, especially for farmers. It’s also Candlemas, a Christian festival that marks when Mary made her first public appearance after giving birth to Jesus. She was confined for 40 days, which mirrors how cooped up we might feel halfway through winter, Donmoyer says.
Why do groundhogs play along?
Groundhogs can be lured from their hibernation because it’s prime time for mating, Donmoyer says. They’re waiting for the signal.
“Drum on the upper edge of the groundhog hole and you can get them to come out because that’s what they do to summon each other for mating,” Donmoyer says. “The male groundhog goes to the female’s hole and takes its paws and drums on the ground and whistles. That’s why some people call them whistle pigs.”
Through the years, celebrations, thanks to lodges, have grown from small groups to big community events like the one in Punxsutawney. Lodges in the Allentown, Reading and Lebanon area were formed in the 1930s as a place to celebrate Pennsylvania Dutch heritage and language. Other lodges don’t stick to the language but are social clubs, usually for men, and always with a big dose of nonsensical humor.
In Kirkwood, Groundhog Day starts with coffee and doughnuts and then a program with skits that are top-secret until next week, says the lodge’s hibernating governor, Richard M. Rankin. The skits usually focus on current events, so there’s a lot to cover this year.
After Octoraro Orphie shares his prediction, three new members of the lodge will undergo baptism by fire and water. Dressed as babies, they’ll be dunked into the Octoraro Creek, and a cannon will be fired over “their hindmost parts.” Hundreds of people usually show up to join the party.
There are no cannons in Mount Joy, but the crowds to see Minnie get bigger every year, says Kerry Meyers, Mount Joy Chamber of Commerce coordinator.
The chamber started a crazy hat contest in homage to Minnie, who wears a spring bonnet.
“It’s something fun to do,” says Meyers. “Everyone comes out and makes a lot of noise.”
