Western Pennsylvania has its beloved Punxsutawney Phil, but in Illinois, there’s a lesser-known contender for the groundhog throne: Woodstock Willie.
Home of the popular “Groundhog Day” movie starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, Woodstock, Ill., attracts a bustling crowd hoping to catch a glimpse of Willie’s weather prediction every Feb. 2, much like the scene in Punxsutawney watching Phil.
Rick Bellairs, chairman of Woodstock Groundhog Days, was an extra in the Harold Ramis film while it was shooting in 1992 in Woodstock. The movie came out in 1993 and is considered a cult classic.
Woodstock Groundhog Days started in 1995 with a handful of people. Since then, it has grown. In comparison, the first official trek to Gobbler’s Knob took place in 1887 in Punxsutawney, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.
“I think when people think of Groundhog Day, they probably think of Punxsutawney,” as the Pennsylvania celebrations have more than 100 years on Illinois, Bellairs said. “But the image in their mind might be Woodstock.”
Cinematic celebration
Unlike in Pennsylvania, the Woodstock Groundhog Days celebration is centered around the movie.
“Lots of our folks come because of the movie — their love of the movie,” Bellairs said, with people traveling from various states and countries.
Bob Hudgins, former locations manager for Columbia Pictures, played an instrumental role in bringing the film to Woodstock. Hudgins, 68, who lives outside of Austin, Texas, said he comes back to visit the filming site as much as he can and recently has been giving movie-oriented tours during Woodstock’s Groundhog Day celebrations.
“If it hadn’t been a good film, there would be no tourism,” he said.
Ramis chose Woodstock because of its picturesque town square.
“We didn’t use Punxsutawney for the film because Punxsutawney itself didn’t have a real town center that looked very good on camera,” he said, according to a Woodstock website. “We scouted all of southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois looking for the perfect town, and we pulled into Woodstock just the way the van pulls into town in the movie. It was the last town we saw, and we looked at this little town square and thought, ‘Aw,’ this is perfect. This is what Punxsutawney should look like.”
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club was established in 1887, and it cares for Phil near the town’s library, where there’s a window into his burrow.
In Illinois, Woodstock Willie resides with his handler and makes only one appearance per year aside from some press appearances in the blitz leading up to Groundhog Day, according to Bellairs.
“He’s not out on display like Punxsutawney Phil,” he said. “Willie lives a quiet life of seclusion.”
After its release, the movie “Groundhog Day” caused a resurgence in attendees at Gobbler’s Knob. Two years after the movie, event organizers voiced concern about rowdy crowds drinking all night and people climbing trees.
Hudgins said he believes the celebration in Woodstock is very different from Punxsutawney, as it’s more family-oriented. The Pennsylvania town draws hundreds of local college students yearly to Gobbler’s Knob.
“It’s good, clean family fun,” he said of Woodstock. “It’s kind of a very truncated celebration compared to what happens in Punxsutawney.”
Travelers flocking to Woodstock will be met with a similar landscape like what can be seen in the movie, Bellairs said.
“Woodstock really hasn’t changed too much physically,” he said, as the buildings are mostly from the late 1800s.
Hudgins said business in Woodstock has boomed since the movie’s release. Prior to filming, 30% of the town square buildings were vacant, he said.
“Today, the square is completely occupied and thriving,” he said. “It’s really increased kind of local tourism.”
Woodstock, however, wasn’t initially supportive of being the location for “Groundhog Day,” Hudgins said. About 23 of the local businesses signed to block filming, and those opposed created buttons for people to wear.
“The exponential growth of the project created a lot of consternation in some of the businesses,” he said. “They actually organized to stop us from coming.”
Because Feb. 2 falls on a Sunday this year, Bellairs said he’s expecting a crowd of at least 3,000 to 5,000 people in Woodstock.
The four-day celebration includes a dinner-dance, several showings of the movie — and “Groundhog Day” the musical. Stephen Tobolowsky, who played Ned Ryerson in the movie, will make a special guest appearance this year.
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And for the first time, a 5K run will take place in Woodstock. About 500 people are signed up, Bellairs said.
“With it being on the weekend, it draws a bigger crowd,” Bellairs said.
The weather is supposed to be slightly above freezing in Woodstock, he said, which should contribute to a bigger crowd.
In 2024, Punxsutawney drew between 35,000 and 40,000 people — a record. Even more people are expected this year.
Woodstock City Manager Roscoe Stelford said Groundhog Day is a great tradition.
“Our claim to fame is the movie,” he said. “It’s definitely an economic catalyst and also something that’s fun and enjoyable for the whole community.”
Stelford has served in city leadership for 24 years and has been city manager since 2013. Though he wasn’t present for the movie’s filming or release, he has witnessed its legacy.
“It’s been growing,” he said of the city’s Groundhog Days. “Because it’s an outdoor event at least for the key moment — the prognostication — it’s definitely driven by the weather.”
Unlikely partnership
At first, dignitaries in Punxsutawney weren’t happy with the developing Groundhog Day celebrations in Woodstock, according to Hudgins.
“It’s been very funny,” he said. “Many people from Punxsutawney have come. Their response is this is a really beautiful town and we understand why you shot (the movie) here.”
Bellairs said that several years ago he reached out to Punxsutawney numerous times to try and form a potential partnership but never got a reply.
“I had thought it would be fun to have some kind of contest here and there, and our winner goes to Punxsutawney, and their winner comes here for a couple of days,” he said. “We don’t have any problems with Punxsutawney — hope they don’t with us.”
Marcy Galando, executive director of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, said she hasn’t spoken to anybody from Woodstock since assuming the role in 2021. She hasn’t gotten any correspondence from Woodstock, either.
“If they reach out to us, we’re definitely willing to talk to them and see what we can do,” Galando said.
She said she has talked to visitors who have come to Punxsutawney asking where they can see the iconic filming locations from the movie, not knowing the movie was filmed in Illinois.
Similar track record
What happens if Punxsutawney Phil and Woodstock Willie announce different predictions?
Bellairs said he doesn’t think it matters — as it’s hard to get weather experts to agree sometimes.
“I guess we’re far enough away that you can have your weather and we can have ours,” he said. “I’m sure they may have disagreed at one time or another.”
Phil and Willie haven’t aligned in their prognosticating over the past five years. Stelford said Woodstock Willie prognosticates at 7:07 a.m. each year — the same time as the movie.
“I don’t know who is more right or who is more wrong,” he said. “The groundhogs probably need to speak beforehand.”
A native of Punxsutawney, Galando said she takes Phil’s word as gospel.
“Punxsutawney is the only truth-predicting groundhog — the one and only,” she said. “I was born and raised here. I only know Punxsutawney Phil.”