Groundhog Day Celebration
Hidden
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Saturday, February 3, 2007
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(other)
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Our celebration of GroundHog Day will take place the day after, February 3rd. Will we be celebrating the end of winter or lamenting about 6 more weeks of caching in the snow, cold, and ice !
Groundhog Day, February 2nd, is a popular tradition in the United States. It is also a legend that traverses centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates. Myths such as this tie our present to the distant past when nature did, indeed, influence our lives. It is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow.
If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole. If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.
The Roman legions, during the conquest of the northern country, supposedly brought this tradition to the Teutons, or Germans, who picked it up and concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, an animal, the hedgehog, would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of bad weather, which they interpolated as the length of the "Second Winter."
Pennsylvania's earliest settlers were Germans and they found groundhogs to in profusion in many parts of the state. They determined that the groundhog, resembling the European hedgehog, was a most intelligent and sensible animal and therefore decided that if the sun did appear on February 2nd, so wise an animal as the groundhog would see its shadow and hurry back into its underground home for another six weeks of winter.
Another February 2nd belief, used by 19th century farmers, was: Groundhog Day - Half your hay. New England farmers knew that we were not close to the end of winter, no matter how cloudy February 2nd was. Indeed, February 2nd is often the heart of winter. If the farmer didn't have half his hay remaining, there may have been lean times for the cows before spring and fresh grass arrived.
Our celebration of GroundHog Day will take place the day after, February 3rd. Will we be celebrating the end of winter or lamenting about 6 more weeks of caching in the snow, cold, and ice?
This is a family friendly event. We will begin gathering at the above coordinates at 12:00 Noon. Come early to meet old and new friends. Caching details and packets will be distributed to groups at 1:00. This is not a race but an opportunity for caching. Will anyone see a groundhog? After you’ve cached enough for the day, meet back at the starting place for caching stories, coin trading, and a bite to eat. Food and beverages available all day.
Groundhog Cachers - Planning to attend
ChasJas (2)
Rsnbk (2)
Wksend (2)
MikeEMT (1)
HuckleBuckle (1)
CheektowagaChick(1)
Lakeshore Geocachers(2)
tsunaumi(1)
Northernpenguin and Kitten on the Hunt (2)
Schu-Dawg (and a nephew or two or more)
Northern Eagle (2)
bookworm (4)
ElbaPatch (1)
booboo_1 (4)
guinea_gal (1)
flipnship - had to cancel from PA.
Hueyflyer&Copilot - will try to attend (2)
totalnrg (1)
New Team # 1(No Name Yet - with totalnrg) (2)
New Team # 2 - (No Name Yet - with totalnrg) (2)
HFJohn (1)
Dr. Evil 1 (1)
Paleoman52 (2)
RoyClay (3)
malachitejewel (2)
Family Finders (2)
Wolfpack414 (2)
kachekat and kickin' (2?)
Sunrayers (2)
Barbershop, Rayman, Andy Too and B.S. Dru (3.5 or 4)
Keith Watson (1)
Dragonflyby (1)
Madmann and Mrs Mad (2)
loon45 (1)
EANate (2)
Mjrsnbk (1)
bigal6377 (1)
Skeeterbait2 (1 or 2)
RockHarder (1)
B.S. Dru (1)
Buttons and Beaux (2)
bfMermin (2) with Little Meghan
Fatty Doo Datty (2)
Harvey Wallbanger and his lady (2)
Tonester (1)
Wobblestock (1)
L+P's Rugrats (5)
Dory The Explorer (1)
Waynescout (1)
Team (LANY) (3)Atv Trail Girl, Blutto, Supplyman
Dave w/o id, Dove 78, and meriadoc2003 (3)
Undyingpower
Pemaquid2 (2)
pfr2345 and an24601 (2)
Andy Too (1)
Lyndon Road Gang- Sue, She and Scott (3)
geosugarmaple and princcessAicha (2)
Trackerbacks (2)
Hiking Cockroachess (1)
ToeTrackers (4)
2BITS (1)
SJRsnbk (1)
TazD (1)
Frogize (1)
flightfanatic (1)
Zoeker Bill (2)
theBrown7 (5)
Supplyman (1)
Strol (1)
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)