Gov Shapiro shuts down PETA’s offer to replace Groundhog Day with vegan ‘reveal cake’ | Chuck Langerman’s memorable Punxsutawney encounter

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February 2nd, 2025 | By Ryan Genova

Governor Josh Shapiro of Abington shut down People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)’s offer to replace Groundhog Day with a vegan “weather reveal” cake, USA Today reported yesterday.

From PETA’s press release:

Let them eat cake! Today, PETA sent a letter to The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s president, Tom Dunkel, with an irresistible offer he’d be well served to gobble up at Gobbler’s Knob. PETA will deliver a delicious “Weather Reveal” vegan cake each Groundhog Day in perpetuity if Dunkel agrees to let Punxsutawney Phil and his family retire to a reputable sanctuary, a move that will earn the outfit kudos from wildlife fans. In a fun play on viral gender reveal videos, PETA’s tasty treat would be cut to expose one of two colors: blue, signifying six more weeks of winter, or pink, indicating an early spring.

Governor Shapiro’s X.com response is below:

Today marks Groundhog Day’s 139th year. Shapiro issued a media advisory from his office on Saturday saying that he would join the groundhog and his inner circle for this morning’s celebrations in Punxsutawney.

“Shapiro will join Punxsutawney Phil and the Pennsylvania Tourism Office for the 139th Groundhog Day celebration to mark the beloved Pennsylvania tradition and join the world in learning if there will be six more weeks of winter or an early spring for 2025, when Punxsutawney Phil makes his prognostication,” the advisory said.

According to video coverage courtesy of WTAE-TV Pittsburgh, the Governor made good on his promise:

In related news, local historian Chuck Langerman told Glenside Local about a memorable Punxsutawney encounter from several years ago.

According to Langerman, he was working the basketball clock for a South Jersey girls’ basketball game at the school where he taught math for 30 years when he started speaking with one of the female referees.

“She told me she was originally from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Remembering that former University of Pennsylvania and Detroit Pistons Hall of Fame basketball coach Chuck Daly got his start coaching at Punxsutawney High School, I asked her if she knew coach Daly,” Langerman said.

The referee told Langerman that Mr. Daly was her Civics teacher in high school, and she was in his classroom when the announcement of President John F. Kennedy being assassinated came over the loudspeaker system.  

“She related that Mr. Daly and several of the students in the room broke down crying when they heard the news,” Langerman said. “I also asked her if Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog were really that big of a deal in her hometown. She looked at me square in the face and said, ‘My name is Phyllis! I was named after the groundhog!!’

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