Groundhog Uni’s Groundhog Day 2022 ceremony

by Countdowntogroundhogday on February 4th, 2022

On Groundhog Day most of the staff here at Countdown to Groundhog Day took a trip out to Myerstown, Pennsylvania to witness Uni the Groundhog’s annual trip down the Tulpehocken Creek.

Uni, a taxidermy mount, is placed on a raft, and is then pulled down the creek by members of Groundhog Lodge No. 17.

Afterwards one of the members of the Lodge interprets Uni’s prediction in Pennsylvania Dutch, and another member translates the Pennsylvania Dutch into English. This year Uni saw his shadow, and his prediction was for slightly less winter (5 weeks and 5 days).

Since we learned about this tradition a few years ago, we’ve wanted to see it in person. Last year the ceremony was cancelled entirely due to the COVID pandemic, and no virtual prediction was provided.

Check out a video and photos from the event below.