Groundhog Day

It just so happens that the movie Groundhog Day was filmed right next to us in Woodstock. They really do it up right too, so if you want to go to a prognostication, this is a good one. It also just so happens that Groundhog Day will not fall on a Saturday again until 2030 thanks to leap year. While it's a fun and quirky little holiday to celebrate, I'm not going to make my kids miss school or church over it. If we were ever going to do Groundhog Day, this was the year. I dragged my grumpy family out of their warm beds, made them dress in layer upon layer of winter gear, and we headed to Woodstock before the sun was up.

As the country roads converged onto the town streets, the line of cars became longer and longer. What we thought was a clever idea of our very own turned out to be a THING! I was shocked how many people were there, not to mention the scores of news reporters.

We arrived in plenty of time to find decent parking, but the square was completely packed. I'm really glad I insisted on boots and snow pants because the girls were able to tromp across the snow and get closer than we would have if we'd had to stay on the narrow shoveled and salted sidewalks.

Can I give a shout out to the polka band that was there in lederhosen? It was SO cold and there they were, with their tuba and everything! We were honored by guest Stephen Tobolowsky who played Insurance guy Ned Ryerson in the movie. Again, I was blown away by the happy crowd gathered so early in the morning. Thankfully, the prognostication was pretty quick and everyone cleared out to one of the many adorable cafes along the square or back to their warm cars.

The grumpy girls got a little more into things by this time.

The Woodstock theater plays Groundhog Day for free. I came back with Liesel and Ireland to catch that but unfortunately all the theaters were full so we settle for a picture with Woodstock Willie.

I'm not kidding when I say Groundhog Day is a big deal in Woodstock. They have events all week long: story time, bowling, trivia, movie location tours, bingo, breakfasts and pub crawls. Then there are the random ones we come across like this guy who was carving a groundhog out of a log with chainsaws.

I've actually been to Punxsutawney, PA and made the trek to Gobbler's Knob to see Phil on Groundhog's Day. That celebration was pretty intense- I'm sure most of those people just started drinking late at night and kept the party going through to morning. We had to take school buses to the site because the crowds were so big and since so many people were so liquored up, there was plenty of inconsiderate shoving and swearing. This prognostication was so much more family friendly. The town square was clean and picturesque. Even though I think the predictions are total bunk, I felt a sliver of hope that the long, cold winter would end soon.

As we drove home, the sun even looked a little warmer rising over the frozen fields.