The Truth About Groundhog Day's Inner Circle

Of course, it isn't the same groundhog that gives us its prediction for how quickly seasons might change from winter to spring, nor has the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, or the Inner Circle of Groundhog Day, stayed the same since 1887. The Groundhog Club is made up of 15 residents of Punxsutawney, who adopt Masonic-like pseudonyms and pledge to keep the Groundhog Day tradition alive in the area, as Smithsonian Magazine reports.

Otherwise, these top-hatted men, with names like "Big Chill," "Rainman," and most menacingly, "Iceman," are teachers, dentists, and chiropractors, performing the same ritual their forebears performed many decades earlier, according to the official Punxsutawney Phil Groundhog Club. Despite their protestations, it's generally believed they have their forecast settled in advance, no matter what Phil's reaction happens to be. Despite the German legend from which Groundhog Day is partially inspired, the handlers do not necessarily wait around for Phil to see his shadow, but determine the forecast beforehand, and then they simply announce it on Gobbler's Knob, as the Pittsburgh Evening Sun reports.

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