Ground Hogs Day

Throughout history it seems that when someone comes up with a brilliant idea...it’s usually a copy from somewhere else. This is true about Ground Hogs Day.
The holiday, which began as a Pennsylvanian German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather lore, wherein a badger or sacred bear is the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog. The holiday also bears some similarities to the medieval Catholic holiday of Candlemas. It also bears similarities to the Pagan festival of Imbolc, the seasonal turning point of the Celtic calendar, which is celebrated on February 1 and also involves weather prognostication.Modern customs of the holiday involve celebrations where early morning festivals are held to watch the groundhog emerging from its burrow.
In southeastern Pennsylvania the people celebrate Ground Hogs Day differently. This day is an event where food is served, speeches are made, and plays are preformed. During the even only Pennsylvania German dialect is allowed to be spoken. If any English is said then that person must pay a nickel, dime, or quarter per word in English.
The Actual holiday has been celebrated since 1886 and takes place in Lancaster County, Schuylkill County, Sinnamahoning Valley, and Bucks County. It’s gone as far as to become the official holiday for the University of Dallas in Irving Texas. The day became even more popular when the movie "Groundhog Day" was mad in the early 90's.
It’s a silly theory really. Every February 2nd people gather around the chosen Groundhog and wait for him to tell us if there will be six more weeks of winter. If he crawls out of his hole and continues forward to search for food then it means winter is over. If he turns around and crawls back in, then winter continues. What animal wouldn’t run back to its hole when 100's of people are staring at you? I don’t remember a year when are trusted Groundhog haven’t retreated back to the hole. Since 1999 to 2010 the name, prediction and location of the groundhog has been kept on record. How can the groundhog in Charlotte NC, and the one in Holtsville NY, say two different things? One says winter hey one says early spring.
I mean come on how can you trust a groundhog named "General Beauregard Lee" to tell you if you should buy more firewood for your home?