Groundhog Day Fun for All

BY: JOHN ROBERTSONJANUARY 30, 2020

It’s time to celebrate everyone’s favorite burrowing rodent. Whether you say groundhog, grundsau, or woodchuck, there are plenty of celebrations this weekend in the area for you to enjoy.

On Saturday, the Boyertown Historical Society’s Grundsau Lodsch will welcome children in the community to learn about groundhogs, make crafts, play games, and learn some basic Pennsylvania Dutch vocabulary. Registration is $5 and limited to 20, so sign up now before space fills up. To learn more about Grunsau Lodsche in general, check out this discussion by Ask a Pennsylvania Dutchman.

In Phoenixville, the historic Colonial Theater will host a showing of Groundhog Day, the classic comedy featuring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for kids.

Also on Saturday, Harleysville Hank will make his forecast a day early, at the Mennonite Heritage Center. The event begins at 6:45 a.m. and is organized by the Harleysville Order of the Grundsow—H.O.G.—which exists to “promote the prognosticational powers of the long ignored marmota monax of the Indian Valley,” according to Hank’s Facebook page. Hank, a stuffed groundhog, will offer a forecast and participants will drink coffee, eat scrapple, and sing groundhog carols, including “I’m Dreaming of the Great Groundhog.”

On Groundhog Day itself, a celebration will be held atop Mount Penn at the Reading Pagoda beginning at 7 a.m. Hot drinks and donuts will be available for purchase, and Patty Pagoda will deliver her forecast at sunrise, 7:13 a.m.