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Why Is A Rodent Predicting Our Weather? Looking At The Origins Of Groundhog Day

The popular Bill Murray film and Pittsburgh’s proximity to Punxsutawney always draw headlines for  Phil and his Gobbler’s Knob troupe each Groundhog Day. But do you know the origins of the tradition? Who was the first to celebrate and why did they designate a woodland rodent to act as their part-time meteorologist? We’ll ask Patrick Donmoyer (Duhn-moi-err) the story behind the holiday. He’s the Site Manager at the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University and says the event actually has a lot to do with the Commonwealth’s German history.

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