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Punxsutawney Phil was up early to predict whether we can expect six more weeks of winter, and two Clarion University alumni were close to the prognosticating action.
Katie Donald ('08) is executive director of the Punxsutawney Groundhog club, and Dan "Moonshine" McGinley ('02) is part of the club's Inner Circle.
According to the official Groundhog Day website, the Inner Circle is "a group of local dignitaries responsible for carrying on the tradition of Groundhog Day every year. They're the ones who are not only responsible for planning the events every year, but they're also responsible for the feeding and care of Phil himself!"
As part of Phil's entourage, Donald and McGinley have insider information on Phil and the festivities that surround Gobbler's Knob.
First, Phil has the difficult task of seeing or not seeing his shadow.
Seeing his shadow means there will be six more weeks of winter.
Not seeing his shadow means spring will come early.
So far, history has been on the side of winter, with Phil seeing his shadow 102 times in the past 130 years. There are another 17 times when he didn't see his shadow, and the other times are lost from the record books.
Not everyone is a fan of the groundhog's results, which the Inner Circle claims are 100 percent accurate. It depends on if you're a fan of one season over the other.
McGinley said Phil has had "no threats of violence," but there was talk of a lawsuit once. However, it was quickly quashed.
Donald said Phil feels very safe. Phil's burrow, where he lives with his wife, Phyllis, is in Punxsutawney Memorial Library, next door to Punxsutawney Police station. The groundhog couple doesn't have children, due to Phil's demanding work schedule.
"It's so much more than a one-day-a-year holiday, and we're happy to host," McGinley
said.
Living in the library has its perks for both Phil and those who come to see him. People
enjoy reading to him, and Phil likes knowing that he boosts library attendance.
With his active schedule and his burrow's lighting and temperature settings, Phil doesn't fully hibernate like most other groundhogs, Donald said. He doesn't eat as much and is sleepier during winter.
So what does the premiere prognosticator eat? His favorite meal is honey and oat granola, and he is a big fan of kale. He also receives alfalfa as part of a balanced groundhog diet, she said.
In order to keep up appearances, Phil has a dentist, legal team and veterinarian.
"He has to have a physical once a year," Donald said.
Food preferences are about as close to a diva attitude as Phil ever exhibits. Well, that and the fact that he doesn't recognize other animal prognosticators – or TV weather personalities, for that matter.
There are many other weather forecasters, but there's only one Punxsutawney Phil, who has had the job for the past 130 years. The first official Groundhog Day was Feb. 2, 1887, but the tradition was started in 1886 when a group of Punxsutawney residents marked Candlemas Day by searching for a groundhog.
Candelmas Day is celebrated Feb. 2, and, as the tradition goes, if any animal came out from underground hibernation and the sun was out, there would be six more weeks of winter. A local newspaper editor named the group Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, after the group's first trek to find Phil.
"He looks great for 130," Donald said.
While other groundhogs only live three to six years in the wild, Phil is not embarrassed by his age or how he has come to live so long. Phil enjoys drinking the Elixir of Life every summer, which sustains him for another seven years, McGinley said.
It's the only time Phil hits the bottle, which is surprising since some of the questions that a groundhog is asked can become tedious, like: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Donald insists Phil doesn't get bored with these questions since he only speaks groundhog-ese, but his handlers might be a little less patient. The answer is 700 pounds, she said, in case anyone was wondering.
Even with mundane questions, Phil loves his job.
"He enjoys meeting new people all the time," Donald said.
Although he doesn't sport a top hat and tuxedo like those who are in the Inner Circle, he's comfortable in his own fur, McGinley said.
McGinley was nominated to the Inner Circle, members of which have traditionally been men, after working with the Groundhog Day stage show. He earned his nickname, "Moonshine," because he works the stage show under the moonshine.
"Women have been nominated (to the Inner Circle), and I don't think it will be long before a woman breaks that mold and gets into the club," McGinley said.
Donald said as a local, she would always stay for the celebration when she was growing up, and has never grown tired of town's most famous day and celebrity.
As executive director of the club, she is close to the Inner Circle. She moved out of the area for a couple of years, but when she came back, she was happy to land the job as executive director for the Groundhog Club, which is a 501c3 organization.
Unlike Donald, McGinley isn't originally from Punxsutawney, but his wife is. He met her through her cousin, who was McGinley's roommate at Clarion.