ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 3, 1997 TAG: 9702030127
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PUNXSUTAWNEY, PA.
SOURCE: Associated Press
GROUNDHOGS ACROSS the nation unanimously predicted an early spring.
An outdoor bash that looked like a summertime rock concert, complete with bare-chested men and fireworks, was a fitting prelude Sunday to Punxsutawney Phil's forecast: spring is nearly here.
The sky was cloudy on Groundhog Day and the celebrated rodent failed to see his shadow at sunrise, just the 12th time that's happened in 111 years of Pennsylvania prognostications. (The last time, in 1995, turned out to be a bad guess.)
``He's just kind of complacent and ready to go about the things groundhogs do,'' said Bud Dunkel, president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.
A shadow sighting, according to tradition, would have indicated six more weeks of winter.
It was a unanimous decision among groundhogs around the nation. Concurring opinions came from from New York City's Staten Island Chuck; Gen. Beauregard Lee of Lilburn, Ga.; Jimmy of Sun Prairie, Wis.; Wanda at the Milwaukee County Zoo; and Buckeye Chuck of Marion, Ohio.
``We don't really care what he (Phil) says,'' said Jimmy spokesman Scott Lange.
Even a prairie dog got into the act: ``Early spring,'' said Lander Lil of Lander, Wyo.
Phil was pulled from his temporary burrow in a hollowed-out maple stump at 7:25 a.m. by handler Bill Deeley, whose heavy glove saved his fingers from the annoyed critter's sharp teeth.
Dunkel then looked into the 15-pound woodchuck's eyes and pretended to translate ``groundhogese.''
The forecast won a cheer from the estimated 20,000-plus fans who gathered in a small clearing at Gobbler's Knob in the central Pennsylvania woods. Most had waited for hours as the temperature hovered around a relatively balmy 30.
At sunup, Phil got a wakeup call from a round of fireworks.
If that wasn't enough noise, there was a mass dance and sing-along to ``YMCA,'' chants of ``Day-O! Daylight come and I want to see Phil,'' and local radio station manager Chris Lash dancing atop Phil's stump to ``Play That Funky Music.''
Police occasionally confiscated beer as zealots waved signs reading ``We came to see the rat,'' ``Phil rules!'' and ``The other white meat.''
``I think we've created a monster,'' Dunkel said.
``It's a combination of a little bit of cabin fever ... plus it's on a weekend,'' he said.
Kevin Mason, a sophomore at Villanova, drove five hours through the night on a lark with a carload of classmates.
``We heard it's ragin','' said Mason, 19.
Ellen Romsaas of Pittsburgh came with her husband, her brother and their families.
``I've waited years to do this,'' she said. ``My brother and I grew up in Minnesota, and we always heard about this. There was nothing in Minnesota in the winter, so this was the big event.''
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Punxsutawney Phil, held by Bill Deeley, greets theby CNBestimated 20,000 faithful in Punxsutawney, Pa., on Sunday. color.