Groundhog Day
By Christopher Rizzo
have a story to tell.
It is a good one too.
In fact, I believe that it would be an ultimate crime if I did not share
It with the rest of the world.
It is about a little furry bugger named Phil.
Phil is a groundhog.
Phil has a following.
The best way for me to tell you this story I guess is to start at the beginning: On Jan. 31st, a few friends and I were enthusiastically sitting around my apartment watching the brilliant depiction of the life of OJ Simpson. During this wonderful piece of television perfection, FOX ran a commercial for some episodes they were going to show on Feb. 2nd which coincided with Groundhog Day. It was then, that a flash of energy rushed between us. On the spur of the moment we decided to go see Punxsutawney Phil. Living in central Pennsylvania, we knew that we couldn't be too far from Punxsutawney (see, this location does have its privileges). Breaking out the good old Michelin guide to the roads, we concluded that it would only take around three or four hours to see Phil. So it was set, we were going to see Phil.
The following morning, as I awoke, brushing off the cobwebs in my head from the previous night's "OJ Simpson Story" celebration, it dawned upon me, "Oh yeah, that's right, we are going to go to see Phil tonight." I could not hide my excitement all day. What a story! We are actually going to gather enough motivation for a long drive solely to see a groundhog be pulled out of a tree stump and tell us whether or not we are going to have eight more weeks of winter. Occasionally I saw my friends who had agreed to go. I'd ask, "Are you still in?" Everyone said, "Of course." Now that we were sober, I think we were all rather skeptical about this trip. We knew nothing about groundhog's day except form the movie, however, we were all gunning to find out.
Finally the time arrived. About 11 PM, on the eve of Groundhog's Day, five of us set out on a journey to see Phil. Knowing not what to expect, we were prepared for anything, taking with us plenty of food, sleeping bags, warm clothes, bourbon and costumes(in case the mood was very festive). Three hours from Lewisburg, we arrived in Punxsutawney; a very cute town, like many towns one encounters while traveling through Pennsylvania. The only thing that differentiated this town from other towns was the groundhog motif. There was the Groundhog shopping plaza, Phil's eatery, and a large statue of Phil in the town square. What a great place! The motto of Punxsutawney, proudly displayed everywhere was, "The Weather Capital of the World," an obvious homage to the most famous member of their community, Phil.
Even though it was around 2 am we were all very excited and our energy levels were at a max. We scoped out the entire town to see where the celebration was going to take place. The town was empty. We assumed everyone was in bed. To get out of the slight snow flurry, we decided to grab some coffee and plan a course of action. While at Scottie's Doughnuts, on the edge of town, our very nice waitress Nicole asked us if we had been to Gobbler's Knob yet. Not really knowing much about Groundhog Day lingo, one of my friends responded, "Sure, we passed it, but nobody was there yet." The waitress looked puzzled. She said, "I don't think so, people have been gathering there since midnight." Immediately realizing that the place we assumed to be where Phil was going to make his appearance was not the correct place, we pleaded with Nicole to tell us where to go, and fast! Within five minutes we were on our way to Gobbler's Knob!!
Words can't describe our amazement upon our arrival there. It was a party!!! No - better yet, it was a crazy party....it was a jammer!!! We were shocked! Not one of us expected to see this! We quickly parked in a clearing (which parking attendants helped us find a spot in) and got ready.
"I don't know about you guys," one of my friends screamed, "but I am going to hit that bourbon...now." We cautiously poured the drinks, since we didn't want to get arrested, or worse, have the bourbon confiscated in the first five minutes, and headed off towards the crowd. The first thing we realized upon our arrival was that our concern of getting busted was foolish. Every person we came across was holding some type of alcoholic beverage. Everyone was either getting drunk or well on their way. Everyone was there to see Phil!
Passing a few bonfires, set up to keep the crowd slightly warm, we saw where the magic was going to take place. There was a large platform set up at the bottom of a hill. Center stage was a tree stump with a door on it. There was no denying it, it was PhilÕs home!!! We had made it. The idea of pulling out our sleeping bags and crashing 'till it was time, was now drastically altered. There was no way we were going to sleep! It would have been impossible! This scene was too good to miss for even a second.
After the original shock wore off, and the bourbon started wearing in, we came to the conclusion that there were at least 750 people there. All between the age of 18 and 25...all getting drunk...at 2:30 am...waiting five more hours to see a groundhog named Phil be pulled out from his fake tree stump in order to tell us how long winter is going to be!!!
What an amazing concept!!
Now, if I was to tell you every crazy thing I saw/did in those five hours before we saw Phil, it would take up the entire issue. So, I'll spare you. I will only just tell you that what happened there was the craziest partying I have ever witnessed. Now, I don't mean partying in the sense of drinking ridiculous amounts of alcohol in very creative ways (although there was some of that) but more so in the fact that everyone was having an amazing time. It was the middle of the night, snowing, in a forest, in the middle of Pennsylvania, and everyone was hanging out waiting for a groundhog named Phil!
Credit at this time has to be given to the "Inner Circle" of the groundhog club for setting this thing up. All night the most amazing party tunes were being spun for the crowd's listening enjoyment. Everything from "Twist and Shout," to "Monie, Monie." In addition, at 6:30 am, there was half an hour of fireworks displayed to a wonderful soundtrack! It was a great show - but I think that the majority of the crowd was so drunk at that point that they couldn't achieve the balance it takes to look at the sky for that long, still it was very nice. Throughout the night a member of "The Inner Circle" kept the crowd entertained between songs by telling stories, keeping people updated on the outside temperature, or simply asking where everyone was from.
The crowd increased throughout the night. The original 750 doubled by 3 am. By 5:30 am there was a good 4,000 people. Around 6:00 am the town of Punxsutawney began bussing people to Gobblers Knob (because of lack of parking) and by the time Phil emerged, the crowd was at an estimated 7,000 people. All to see the groundhog named Phil.
So, I feel it my civic duty to inform you all about what an amazing event Groundhog Day was. I can not stress this enough, if you ever want fun, fun on Feb. 2nd, go to Punxsutawney, and go see Phil.
Oh, and by the way, our costumes were never brought out, except for one. My pal Peter wore a beautiful Elvis costume which brought us and the rest of the thousands of people in attendance, a lot of entertainment. "Elvis" siting in Punxsutawney was at its best when he was brought up on stage to lead the entire crowd in a great dance display to the song, "Twist and Shout."
"Long live groundhog supremacy!"
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