Here’s what’s happening this week in the Chattanooga area.
Happy Groundhog Day
Sunday is Groundhog Day, which is celebrated every year on Feb. 2. According to folklore, this is the day groundhogs emerge from hibernation. If they see their shadow, they will scurry back into the burrow for another six weeks of winter. If not, warm weather is on the way. Punxsutawney Phil is the best-known of these weather prognosticators, but that’s because the holiday originated with the Pennsylvania marmot. According to the first mention in a Punxsutawney newspaper, German immigrants to the area had observed Groundhog Day as early as 1886. In 1887 they made their first official trek to Gobbler’s Knob to pluck Phil from his burrow. Closer to home, Gen. Beauregard Lee in Jackson, Georgia, about an hour south of Atlanta, will predict winter’s end in festivities starting at 6 a.m. Sunday. Officially, spring arrives with the vernal equinox at 3:01:09 a.m. on March 20.
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