February 2, 2006 Net Report

Happy Groundhog Day! Well, Punxsutawney Phill came out of hibernation today and saw his shadow. That means 6 more weeks of winter weather. Of course, so far OUR winter weather has been pretty mild so... six more weeks of 70 degree weather sounds good to me!

Here's a picture of Phil making his weather prognostication today at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Penn.

Trivia Question:

In honor of Groundhog Day, Who was the first American President to meet Punxsutawney Phil?

• Jimmy Carter
• Bill Clinton
• Richard Nixon
• Ronald Reagan

Trivia Answer:

• Ronald Reagan met Phil on a trip he (Phil) made to Washington D.C. in May 1986.

From Punxsutawney Phil's Official Website comes the following:

Over the course of Phil's appearances, Phil has had numerous noteworthy highlights:

• During Prohibition Phil threatened to impose 60 weeks of winter on the community if he wasn't allowed a drink.

• In 1958 Phil announced that it was a "United States Chucknik," rather than a Soviet Sputnik or Muttnik that became the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth.

• In 1981 Phil wore a yellow ribbon in honor of the American hostages in Iran.

• Phil traveled to Washington DC in 1986 to meet with President Reagan. He was joined by Groundhog Club President Jim Means, Al Anthony and Bill Null.

• Phil met Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburg in 1987.

• In 1993, Columbia Pictures released the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray.

• Phil appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show in 1995.

• In the years following the release of the movie, record crowds numbering as high as 30,000 have visited Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney!

• In 2001, Phil's prediction was shown live on the JumboTron at Times Square in New York City.

• Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell attended the ceremonies, making him the first sitting governor ever to do so.

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The following people checked in to the net tonight. Those marked with a * got the correct answer to the trivia question.

• WB6A Pat *
• AC6AJ Lee *
• KE6CZH Robert *
• KG6DBL Bill
• W6DTS Ted
• K6FCC Khalil
• N6HY Ernie
• KD6JEV John
• N6KAS Andy *
• WA6KFI Rick *
• KG6KTC Leon
• NY6L Jay
• K6MJB John *
• KD6NIW Oliver *
• W6NVY Gary
• KG6NWJ Barry
• KF6PIH Scott
• K6QVZ Joe
• KG6RDA Sidney *
• KF6RMC Michael
• KG6TRR Bob
• WA6USL Murray
  
• KG6WXY Ralph
• KF6YBM Henry
• KF6ZQM Harry *
• N6ZZK Ted
• N6UDQ
  

Thanks to everyone for checking in and supporting the net!