Woodstock, Illinois, Groundhog Day Festival

February 2nd was Groundhog Day and I went to Woodstock for the annual Festival.

Crowds have been growing every year, but this was the biggest I can remember since Groundhog Day occurred on Saturday this year. Plus, the weather was very agreeable for this time of the year.

I overslept Woodstock Willie's 7:07 a.m. prognostication (he didn't see his shadow, but with the 12-16 inches of snow we're getting today, I don't know). If the groundhog doesn't see his shadow, it's a sign that winter is about over. I heard someone say that there had been about a thousand people for the prognostication.

Usually, the Woodstock Theater has only one screen for the showing of the "Groundhog Day" movie, but today, there were two and both were filled. I was able to get an end seat about three rows back from the screen, not a favorite place to sit. Unfortunately, two families with young kids sat in the rest of my row. Two to five year-olds are not going to find this movie interesting. They talked incessantly and were there ever a lot of trips to the bathroom and to get refills of pop and popcorn, which are free.

Afterwards, I went to the chili cookoff which was also crowded. They should really have the people go into the room to taste it in groups. It gets so crowded, especially with the big winter coats, it is difficult to get to the pots. Great chili as usual. I especially liked the vegetarian chili. I'd never heard of that before.

Went to Village Cove on the square and left a note on the bulletin board that Frances had died. She had lived there when it was an assisted living facility for three and a half years before she moved to Alden Terrace.

Bob Hudgins led the movie sites walk as usual. He was the location manager for the movie and largely responsible for its being filmed in Woodstock and has lots of stories about the movie. The only real snow used was the final scene which was filmed early on in the production. The rest was made fron ice and spot-spread. He had a room in a building across from the square and wasn't happy to find himself awakened every morning at 4 am when a semiload of ice was delivered and put into a chipper.

I didn't go on the walk because of the large number of people, I would guess to be about 500. I went to Jenapea's and had a very remarkable coffee while listening to a pair of folksingers.

At 3, I went to Stage Left at the Opera House (Pennsylvania Hotel in the movie and where Phil Connors jumped out of the tower) and joined the second annual "Groundhog Day Movie"Symposium. We discussed what the movie really meant, saw some goofs, and had three groups do the Phil Connors-Ned Ryerson bit. There was one couple who had come in from Kansas City for the festivities.

Great Fun in Small-Town America. --RoadDog