My Obsession with Groundhog Day
by Thom Garrett and Danna Colman
There’s a quirky little school in a quirky little town that does something that’s a little, well, you get it. The town is Missoula, tucked away in the northern Rockies in the western end of Montana. The school is Sussex School, an independent K-8 school with a focus on the environment and outdoor recreation. I was the Director there (equivalent to the Principal in other schools) for nearly 15 years, and while I was there, I made it my personal mission to make one certain day the social and festive high point of the year. Bigger than Halloween, bigger than Christmas, maybe even bigger than the last day of school. That day was February 2nd — Groundhog Day.
Before you pass judgment, let me explain. We were a small school with fewer than a hundred students, and while we had all the institutional structures of most schools, we were informal to a fault, and functioned more as a large extended family than as a more typical private school. It quickly became clear to me that an upbeat school climate, including happy students and happy parents, made for much more effective classrooms.
It also soon became clear that if we were going to have a social crisis sometime during the year, it would probably come to a head in February. Why February? Because we’d go camping in the fall, and then came Halloween, followed by the winter holidays. The whole school went skiing together once a week in early winter, and then hiking, kayaking, and rock climbing in the spring, but February was cold and dark, truly the winter of our discontent.
So I had to do something to raise people’s spirits in February, and of course the answer was… a Valentine Dance. That idea blew up in my face, and if you’ve ever worked with middle schoolers, you know why. Kids that age are raging hormones in sneakers. The idea of bringing those boys and girls together for an evening of pairing up and maybe even touching each other with romantic overtones was more than some of them could handle, and in the end it added more stress than it relieved.
What I needed was a holiday that nobody celebrated, a reason to get together that had essentially no traditions or cultural baggage. And then the February clouds parted and the sun did shine through, and lo, there was Groundhog Day, and we all saw it was good.
One day in January, I announced the upcoming Groundhog Day party, but it wasn’t going to be just any party. This was designed to be the biggest school gathering of the year, including all students and teachers, all family members, and as many alumni as we could gather. To add to the fun, we made it a potluck, but with one rule — no healthy snacks! We saw Twinkies covered in Cheez Whiz and Snickers wrapped in bacon. And one more thing — it was a Polyester Party. No natural fibers allowed. For our demographic of health conscious L.L. Bean shoppers, this was irresistible fun, and they went for it hook, line, and sinker. The first Groundhog Day celebration was a success.
Then it became my job to keep the energy surrounding that magical Groundhog Day alive. Over the years that followed, I sent every student and teacher a Groundhog card every year. One of my favorites read:
The Groundhog is a clever beast
Makes spring begin and winter cease
But if that hog’s so doggone smart
Why don’t it just make summer start?
Teachers joined in by decorating their classrooms for the festive season, including Groundhog trees and lights, and special integrated units of study on light and shadows, American folk traditions, weather predicting, and mathematical analyses of the accuracy of the Groundhog over the years. I eventually wrote an entire songbook of Groundhog Carols which we would only allow students to sing for the week before the big day. “I’m Dreaming of a Gray Groundhog Day,” “Groundhog is Coming to Town,” “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Groundhog Day,” “Rockin’ Around the Groundhog Tree,” and “The Groundhog Boogie.”
The party itself always fell on Superbowl Eve, held in the school gym, and hosted by my loud-mouthed, talentless, singing alter-ego, Larry the Lounge Lizard. Larry, bedecked in gold lamé and sequins, would host a parents-only talent show, and then perform a few show-stopping numbers with a full rock band. The whole event over the years was beyond successful. It was glorious!
I moved on from that school about ten years ago, but I still send and receive Groundhog greetings faithfully. This year, one of my old colleagues sent me a picture of a table displaying photos and memorabilia of the “old days,” put there so new students could understand the roots of this crazy tradition that is still going and stronger than ever. I also received a video of the entire school gathered in the courtyard, all joyfully singing Groundhog carols. It made my heart soar. But don’t you feel the same every year when you hear those fun old songs and remember those magical Groundhog Days of your childhood? I know Groundhog Day has become commercialized these days, but just like me, you’ll relive the joy you once knew as long as you remember that the Groundhog is the reason for the season.
