PUNXSUTAWNEY — The Punxsutawney Rotary Club held its annual radio auction on April 13, raising $24,582, according to Bob Lott, chairman of the event. Along with $7,000 in cash donations,
PUNXSUTAWNEY — Local history will be the focus during WOJAK Weekend, Sept. 8-10, as the town travels back in time to focus on the pre-history of the Punxsutawney area.
Courtesy of Jeffrey Lundy
Sam Light and Phil, Punxsutawney’s famous groundhog.
Soon after becoming president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club in 1952, Sam Light decided he would give the day some added flair by wearing a top hat and tails when he pulled the town’s famed groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, from a tree stump shortly before 7:30 a.m. to determine if he could see his shadow. If he could not, it meant an early spring. If he could, it meant six more weeks of winter.
“In those days, celebrities and other important people would arrive in New York aboard ocean liners, and there to greet the ships was Grover Whalen [chairman of the Mayor’s Committee on Receptions to Distinguished Guests],” recalled Light’s widow, Elaine. “He wore a tall hat and tails. Sam adopted that costume to greet the groundhog because he said he, too, was a very important person.”