Thursday , March 28 2024

Groundhog Blogging

Weatherbug meteorologist Ryan Towell is blogging his journey to Punxsutawney, Penn in pursuit of Bill Murray’s furry friend. Here is today’s entry:

    The History of Groundhog Day
    An important part of preparing for our trek to Punxsutawney involved doing some background research on the whole Groundhog Day tradition. Groundhog Day can trace its roots back to the early European tradition of Candlemas Day. This Christian tradition involved clergy blessing candles and distributing them. Even back then, the weather on this day was very important. Sunshine on this day was said to be an omen of a prolonged winter.

    German settlers brought a form of this tradition to Pennsylvania. They concluded that if the groundhog, an intelligent animal in their eyes, saw his shadow on this particular day, it meant six more weeks of winter. If not, spring was just around the corner.

    The first trip up to Gobbler’s Knob was back in 1887. It is sort of exciting to know that we are going to be part of such a long standing tradition. – Ryan

About Eric Olsen

Career media professional and serial entrepreneur Eric Olsen flung himself into the paranormal world in 2012, creating the America's Most Haunted brand and co-authoring the award-winning America's Most Haunted book, published by Berkley/Penguin in Sept, 2014. Olsen is co-host of the nationally syndicated broadcast and Internet radio talk show After Hours AM; his entertaining and informative America's Most Haunted website and social media outlets are must-reads: Twitter@amhaunted, Facebook.com/amhaunted, Pinterest America's Most Haunted. Olsen is also guitarist/singer for popular and wildly eclectic Cleveland cover band The Props.

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