Punxsutawney Groundhog Club president keeps Groundhog Day tradition alive
PUNXSUTAWNEY (KDKA) - In the nearly 140-year history of Punxsutawney's Groundhog Club, Tom Dunkel is just the first Inner Circle President whose father held the same role.
It's a point of pride for Dunkel, who took on the role in 2024.
In Gobbler's knob, there's an image where you can see his father, Bud, hanging inside the visitor center.
Also inside is the same cane his father used every Feb. 2.
"Through the use of the cane, which is handed down from president to president, [it] gives me the ability to speak Groundhogese," Dunkel said.
Tom recalled a conversation he had with his father last year, Dunkel's first as Inner Circle President on Groundhog Day.
"[He told] me that he watched Groundhog Day and that he loved it, and we did a great job," Dunkel said.
It was remarkable because of his 93-year-old father's Alzheimers.
"I couldn't understand how he knew any of that, or where all this was coming from," Dunkel said. "My wife was like, holy cow. We haven't heard him talk this much in years."
A day after that conversation, Tom's father fell into a coma. He died a few days later.
"I know my dad's looking down at me very proud that I, too, became the president of the Groundhog Club," Dunkel said.
