By: Nick Stanley 

     Groundhog Day happens every February 2 to determine if we will have six more weeks of winter or an early spring. The tradition states that if the groundhog sees his shadow, that would predict six more weeks of winter and if he doesn’t then that would mean an early spring.  

     The Squire ran a poll on Instagram to see what our fellow readers and followers thought. 54% of followers predicted that Phil would see his shadow, while 46% predicted he would not. 52% of The Squire’s followers feel that Phil’s predictions are usually accurate.  

     The first time we ever had Groundhog Day was in the year 1886 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. This was just the first day of Phil being recognized, so there was no prediction that day. According to Groundhog.org, there are also a bunch of Groundhog Day events that you can participate in if you go to Punxsutawney for the big day. There is the Annual Groundhog Banquet and lunch with Phil. The Annual Groundhog Club Banquet is held on February 1, a day before Groundhog Day at the Punxsutawney Area High School. The doors open at 5:30 p.m. and dinner starts at 6:00 p.m. Tom Dunkel, Shingle Shaker and President of the Inner Circle serves as the master of ceremonies. To get into the banquet, the tickets are $40.00 and include a served buffet style meal. For lunch with Phil, you get to eat lunch with Phil the Groundhog for $20.00 tickets.  

     Groundhog Day has been going on for nearly 140 years. The Squire did some research on how often Phil’s predictions are correct and found that Punxsutawney Phil’s Groundhog Day predictions are generally considered inaccurate, with an estimated success rate of roughly 35% to 39% of being right. This is fairly low, worse than a 50/50-coin toss. Groundhog Day is a widely known tradition but usually only celebrated in the USA and Canada, while in Italy, for example, they watch a bear to help predict the weather.  

    This year, Phil has seen his shadow, which means six more weeks of winter. So make sure to bundle up because the winter weather is here to stay.