From the History site.
The first official Groundhog Day celebration took place on February 2, 1887, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The annual ritual has its roots in pre-Christian traditions and was brought to the United States by German immigrants.
It falls midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, the Celts, for instance, , celebrated it as Imbolc, a pagan festival marking the beginning of spring.
The first Groundhog Day celebration was the brainchild of local newspaper editor Clymer Freas, who sold a group of businessmen and groundhog hunters-- known collectively as the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club-- on the idea.
The men trekked to a site known as Gobbler's Knob, where the inaugural groundhog became the bearer of ad news when he saw his shadow,
Nowadays, the ceremony is presided over by a group known as the Inner Circle. Its members wear top hats and conduct the proceedings in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect. (They speak to the groundhog in "groundhogese.")
Every February 2, thousands of spectators attend Groundhog Day events in Punxsutawney, a town of about 6,000 residents.
I was immortalized in the film "Groundhog Day" starring Bill Murray in 1993, though the film was shot mainly in Woodstock, Illinois. Punxsutawney is still mad about that one.
I live about 17 miles from Woodstock and have attended the festivities often.
--RoadHog
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