YDR Insider

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Do you attend “big events”?

Did you hear? Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, which means six more weeks of winter.

York County’s groundhogs — York’s Poor Richard, Dover Doug and Mount Wolf’s Susquehanna Sherman — were all more daring. They all predicted an early spring.  See our local story and video here.

I grew up in western Pennsylvania, hearing about Phil. One year I decided to make the trek to Punxsutawney to see what all the fuss was about.

I drove from my parents’ house in Johnstown to Punxsutawney. And I drove. And I drove. It was only about 60 miles away but it seemed to take hours to get there.

I finally arrived at the destination, a shopping center parking lot. That’s where you catch a bus that takes you to Gobbler’s Knob, which is in the woods.

And, once you get there, you have to find a good spot amongst thousands of people to  to see the furry prognosticator. It’s really dark and cold. People are loud.

It’s over in a blink.

In my slightly younger days, I was a fan of such big events. New Year’s Eve in Times square, Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney,  the Olympics in Atlanta. I was there. With the crowds. Packed in. Cold. (Hot at the Olympics). I’m glad I went. But,  I doubt I’ll repeat any of those experiences.

How about you, readers. Have you battled huge crowds to attend a “big event”? Was it worth it?