Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: banquets

"Die elft yairlich Fersommling uns Fesht fon da Grundsow Lodsch Nummer Neina on Da Deef Runn. Mittwuch ovet der sivve un zwanzichscht Chanevari om halver siwwa owets im Nei Hilltown Schuulhause, Hilltown, Pa." Rough translation: "The eleventh yearly gathering and feast of the Groundhog Lodge Number Nine on the Deep Run, Wednesday evening, January 27, at 6:30 in the evening in the New Hilltown Schoolhouse, Hilltown, Pa." A groundhog adorns the cover of this 1965 booklet containing the program for a gathering of the all-male members of Grundsow Lodsch Nummer Neina (Groundhog Lodge Number Nine). The lodge is one of several groups that meet to promote the Pennsylvania Dutch language, and get-togethers often take place on or near Groundhog Day (February 2) each year. For another Grundsow Lodsch item, see Groundhog Lodge No. 12, Gathering, Shartlesville, Pa., May 4, 1990 (below). For further information, track down a copy of William W. Donner's book, Serious Nonsense: Groundhog Lodges, Versammlinge, and Pennsylvania German Heritage (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2016). By the way, the Pennsylvania German Groundhog Lodges and their gatherings, which began in the 1930s, are distinct from the celebrations featuring the nationally known Punxsutawney Phil , who's been prognosticating the weather for the Punxsutawney, Pa., Groundhog Club since 1886, and other local groundhog celebrities, including Octoraro Orphie, who's the weather forecaster for the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge of Quarryville, Pa. (see below), which has been in existence since 1908.

"Grand Social Banquet at the Central House, City of Nashua, N.H., on Thursday, March 15, 1860. Cards of admission, two dollars. Tickets, $2.00. 18155."

A ticket for the Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch Fersommling (Pennsylvania Dutch gathering) held at Haag's Hotel in Shartlesville, Berks County, Pa., on May 4, 1990, by the Grundsow Lodsch Nummer 12 on da Dulpehocka Pawd (Groundhog Lodge No. 12 on the Tulpehocken Path). As Wikipedia indicates, "A Fersommling (plural, Fersommlinge) (also spelled Versammling or Fersammling) is a Pennsylvania Dutch social event in which food is served, speeches are made, and one or more g'spiel (plays or skits) are performed for entertainment." Check out the wonderfully amusing photo of King Groundhog arriving at the Fersommling held on February 2, 1968, by Grundsow Lodge Nummer Ains on da Lechaw (Groundhog Lodge Number One on the Lehigh). Folklorist Don Yoder points out in his book Groundhog Day (Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2003), p. xii, that the groundhog is "a vital if tongue-in-cheek symbol of the Pennsylvania Dutch. This identity is celebrated in the all-dialect Grundsow Lodges (Groundhog Lodges) of Southeastern Pennsylvania, where every February hundreds of Dutchmen meet to spend the evening feasting and frolicking, with pledges of allegiance, the sacred Groundhog Oath, and lots of harmless revelry--all in Pennsylvania Dutch." Although some Groundhog Lodges do hold Fersommlinge on Groundhog Day or later in February, other gatherings--like this one on May 4, 1990--are scheduled at different times. -------- (Not yet translated from the Pennsylvania Dutch.) Grundsow Lodge No. 12 on da Dulpehocka Pawd Des baweiss'd das da ________ fon ________ 'n fol shtandich lead iss fon da Grundsow Lodsch No. 12 on da Dulpehockae Pawd, und fershprocha hut die yarlich 1990 Fersommling ei tzunemma om 7:13 ovets, da 4't Moi onn, Haaga Watshaus, Shartlesville, Pa. Harvey A. Hill, Jr., Hauptmann William H. Keener, Shreiver Sei so gute und halt ken sitzplatz zurick. Please do not reserve any seats. Seating is available as members arrive. No. 0255 -------- Dierra Tzettle Des beweiss'd das da ________ fon ________. Mir Zwelf Daller Batzawled hut fer ein Glead tzu, werra bleiva fon da Grundsow Lodsch No. 12 on da Dulpehocka Pawd. Fohr g'shloga fom Glead Tox $12.00 RAWD No. 0255

Menu from page 3 of the program for the "Fourteenth Annual Watch and Wait of the Slumbering Ground Hog Lodge of Quarryville, in Pennsylvania," February 2, 1921 (see below for a transcription of the text). For additional information about the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge, see an enlargement of the groundhog illustration on the front cover of the program for the lodge's 1963 celebration, the full front cover of the program , and the back cover of the program . Ground Hog Day, Nineteen Twenty-One Ground Hog Feast Hotel Weber, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the Garden Spot of America. To sleep or not to sleep? That is the question. Whether 'tis weather-wise thus to suffer The stings and arrows of a Borean Winter, Or, by retreating to a cozy corner, burrow, and end them, To sleep, to hibernate and by a six-week nap To say we end the backache and the rheumatism And the hundred ills woodchucks are heir to, To hibernate! To sleep! Perchance to dream-- Aye, there's the rub! For in that death-like sleep What dreams may come, eke make me suck my paws, For who would prophesy and shake and shiver In an advancing cold wave and storm When he at once might rest and comfort take By getting in out of the wet. Menu Celery, Olives, Oysters on the Half Shelf, Vegetable Soup Stuffed Turkey, grown in Colerain Township Turkey Giblet Sauce Mashed Potatoes, raised in East Drumore Candied Sweet Potatoes, product of Beggar Row Cranberry Sauce, as sassy as can be made Quarryville Peas Salads, a la Eden Township Ice Cream, frozen in Lancaster Cakes Coffee, direct from Brazil, grown especially for ground hogs

"50c Banquet 50c. The Yellow Dogs will gnaw at the ancient relic in peace and harmony at the Coleman House, Thursday, March 8th, 1923, after the regular meeting." See also Angelica Paez's Order of Yellow Dogs membership card and my own Ancient, Honorable, Transcendental, and Effervescent Order of Yellow Dogs, 1924 membership card.