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February 2, 2010
Nikki Bowser
For many, Feb. 2 comes and goes just as quickly as Feb. 1, with no apparent significance. But for roughly 6,000 people in the heart of western Pennsylvania, Feb. 2 is the most important day of the fiscal year. On Feb. 2, the 3.4 square mile borough of Punxsutawney, PA, holds more than five times its local population.
Punxsutawney’s economy is completely driven by a small rodent the residents love and appreciate: Punxsutawney Phil, the weather-predicting groundhog.
Born and raised in Punxsutawney, Charles Shambelan knows the importance of the groundhog-based economy.
“It’s as important as any one-day economy in the world,” Shambelan said. “Comparable to New Years Eve in New York or Christmas at the Vatican, it is a job-generating machine.”
Many view Groundhog Day as a meaningless calendar holiday, but it is safe to make the assumption that without Groundhog Day, Punxsy’s economy would collapse. There is an incredible lack of industry, and nearly all of the businesses are privately and locally owned.
Shambelan describes the borough as “not nearly as charming as depicted in the movie Groundhog Day,” but it is certainly not lacking character. For example, anyone familiar with Punxsy knows that the best pizza consumers could ever have is at Laska’s on the way into town traveling east, across the street from the Punxsutawney Country Club. However, the same familiar person also knows that the “Sara Pie” baked by Laska’s originated at Defelice Pizza House, which has been a Punxsutawney institution since the sixties.
Another important stop on the Punxsutawney tour is Nick’s Corner Lunch, formerly known as Carlino’s. Carlino’s was popular in the 70’s and 80’s for its hospitality and cheeseburgers served in hot dog buns.
Punxsutawney’s economy took a big tax revenue jump when it welcomed WalMart to town about ten years ago, creating hundreds of jobs and providing residents with a fourth grocery store within a three-mile radius.
Punxsutawney is the kind of town where everything can be accessed via one main road (Mahoning Street) and, although most everywhere can be reached by foot (with WalMart being one of few exceptions), everyone drives. The bank, McDonald’s and the Historic Pantall Hotel (the only hotel in Punxsy) are all located on Mahoning St., as is Barclay Square and the Library. For five days each summer, the Punxsy population swells again, all in the name of Punxsy Phil, for the annual Groundhog Festival. Mahoning St. also takes you to the most important place in Punxsutawney: Gobbler’s Knob.
The 6,000 residents of Punxsy have Phil almost entirely to credit for the survival of their borough, and this sentiment is not lost on the residents.
“The residents are not stupid,” Shambelan said. “After all, we’re still able to convince tens of thousands of people to show up at the crack of dawn in the middle of winter to watch this spectacle. Therein lies the genius of the rodent based economy.”
Punxsutawney Phil is quite a remarkable groundhog – not only has he largely surpassed the average groundhog life expectancy of seven years (according to legend, Phil is over 100 years old), he also has the incredible talent of predicting the weather with no actual skill involved.
As tradition goes, each year on Feb. 2 Phil is taken to Gobbler’s Knob. (There are those who believe this is Phil’s year-round home – this is a common misconception; Phil actually lives at the “Groundhog Zoo,” located at the Punxsutawney Public Library.) Once transported the mile-and-a-half to the Knob down Mahoning St., Phil is then placed inside his “hole”- a cage that looks somewhat like a tree stump. At the appointed time, he emerges from his hole in search of his shadow. Phil is then consulted by his “Inner Circle,” a select group composed of members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, who determine whether Americans can expect to see spring just around the corner or six more weeks of winter.
After the outcome has been determined, it is announced by one of Phil’s two handlers, Ben Hughes or John Griffiths, to a crowd which annually approaches 30,000, and thus concludes Groundhog Day. The actual weather-predicting itself is over in less than twenty minutes, yet this 20 minute event is the essence of the borough.
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