Presented by William Donner

Learn about the origins of Groundhog Lodges and Versammlinge, occasions when Pennsylvania Germans gather to speak their language and celebrate their culture. These meetings, begun in the 1930s, continue to the present.  Many of the activities and humor are rooted in broader American folk and performative traditions that are spun into Pennsylvania German experience.  And the Groundhog Lodges feature one Pennsylvania German tradition that has become familiar in popular culture: groundhog weather prognostication.