It is the custom in the United States of America that state governors issue proclamations to note special days, weeks, or months, and the reason for their designation. Here is the draft of one such proclamation to be issued tomorrow.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
A Proclamation
His Excellency Governor Deval L. Patrick
Whereas, it is a tradition among the peoples of the world to look for signs of the approaching spring, particularly after this darned polar vortex; and
Seriously, we’re celebrating this varmint?
Whereas, the traditional way to do this is to observe the humble groundhog’s rising on the second day of February, to see if he sees his shadow; and
Whereas, we owe this observance to a pagan tradition that dates back decades to some money-grubbing Pennsylvanians looking for a lame tourist attraction; and
Whereas, the Commonwealth has its own groundhogs, who are perfectly capable of forecasting the coming of spring, insofar as a pesky rodent can do so.
Now, Therefore, I, Deval L. Patrick, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do hereby proclaim February 2, 2014, to be
Groundhog Day
And urge all the citizens of the Commonwealth to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in its observance (though reminding them that while it is not technically groundhog hunting season, we’ll look the other way, just this once).
Given at the Executive Chamber in Boston, this second day of February, in the year two thousand and fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the two hundred and thirty-seventh.
By His Excellency
Deval L. Patrick
Governor of the Commonwealth
William Francis Galvin
Secretary of the Commonwealth
God Save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Sillyverse 
Gotta get those hogs ground for ground hog day.
Hmm, ground groundhog meat? Groundhog burgers, anyone?
So is that the origin. I thought, despite the very American rodent, it might have arisen amongst the early Celtic immigrants, the 2nd of February being one of the Celtic quarter days, ‘Im Bolg’: the celebration of the ewes’ lactation (which I’ve always thought was a strange reason to celebrate).
I gather the actual origin is unclear, with Im Bolg being one theory, a German tradition that survived in Pennsylvania yet another possibility. I wrote this in part as a humorous response to a post on the Streets of Salem blog which mentioned how some Americans double-dated things in terns of the Christian Era and the years since Independence. It so happens that several states, including Massachusetts, use this double dating in their official proclamations.
Yea, I did notice the humour, though being a Brit there are times when your American wit slips by me, unnoticed for 2-3 days. Then. . . oh! No offence to you; in some things the ocean is a wet divide! 🙂
My Scottish-born mother is quite certain that some of my wit escapes her completely. She doesn’t see this as a good thing . . . for me.
One expects one’s mother to grasp one’s wit. Though my mother never did with me.
Yay! Here’s for pesky li’l rodents!
Oddly enough, I’ve seen only one in “the wild” at close quarters, a juvenile who hung out by our woodpile when we lived in Groton, Massachusetts. Had to get rid of it, as the family dog was a far too trusting a creature that would have been hurt trying to be friendly with it.
Do they only live in the East Coast? I will never forget the big smily gopher Boaz and I once found in a field by UCSC. It looked like a character from an old Disney movie…
The groundhog’s range extends into the Upper South and across much of Canada, but they don’t show up in the western U.S. at all.