There aren't too many places to be on Groundhog Day, but I happen to live in one of them. I'm in Woodstock, Illinois where the movie Groundhog Day was filmed (and yes, it was filmed almost completely in Woodstock). We have all sorts of events in town around Groundhog Day, but of course the centerpiece is when Woodstock Willie emerges from his fake stump and pronounces his forecast for the duration of winter.
Punxsutawney Phil, the more notable rodent, saw his shadow and predicted more winter. But Woodstock Willie (who doesn't appear to have his own web presence) was more optimistic, to the delight of hundreds of onlookers this morning. I had a nice chat with the glorified squirrel after the fact, and told him that he would be roadkill if he is just pulling our chain. He assured me that his trick knee was in fact indicating the end of winter. We'll see.
Here are some pictures I took of our Groundhog Day festivities with my daughter.
Steve,
What do you think of Tommy's book "A Life Well Lived"?
Hashman
Posted by: Hashman | 02/02/2006 at 07:11 PM
"Rise and shine, campers, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's cooooold out there today!" ...one of my all-time favorite flicks. Every time I watch it...it's like deja vu or something. Did I just day deja vu or something? Nice pics!
Posted by: James | 02/02/2006 at 08:50 PM
I was wondering why McLaren was taking so long to respond to Driscoll's question. Now I see, from your photos, that he was out of town to partake in Woodstock's Groundhog Day festivities (bottom pic). :)
Posted by: Wes Hagerman | 02/02/2006 at 09:50 PM
Steve, you gotta get out more!
(You are a good photog, I have to admit!)
Posted by: Kgreg | 02/03/2006 at 09:51 AM
My husband and I watched Groundhog Day last night in honor of the holiday. CLASSIC!!!!
Posted by: Laura Beth O'Nan | 02/03/2006 at 03:45 PM
Wes, too funny.
Posted by: Steve McCoy | 02/03/2006 at 09:43 PM
Did the groundhog indicate how many more days it is going to rain up here in Vancouver? My goodness!
Posted by: Kevin Cawley | 02/04/2006 at 01:22 AM
well . . . i caved - after living near the town my whole life - i finally caved and took my semester missionary intern to punxt. to see Phill - we left my house at 3:30am - arrived in town at 5:30am - walked to 2mile hike up to gobbler's nob - which i disagree with the state police men - it seemed more like 4 miles - but we finally arrived to over 4,000 screaming red-necks - all wear groundhog hats with steeler gear - only in Pa is that cool! we watched fireworks, magic shows, and then at 7:10am - the groundhog council came out and we began the spiritual experience of chanting "phil, phil, phil" - at last at 7:25am - the handeler - which by the way - is in the record books for being the person how has kissed a groundhog the most - finally pulled phil from his "man-made" tree hole - showed him around and gave the announcement - it was rumored that phil peed on a terriable towel - what a shock to many steeler fans - it was horrible for the whole steeler nation to hear that their precious golden over priced kitchen towel was used as a groundhog diaper!! - but overall - i thought the whole thing was way cool - looking forward to treking down next year with students in toe this time!!!
francie
Posted by: francie | 02/04/2006 at 11:47 PM