Groundhog Day meets Rain Day in Waynesburg
Barry Nelson of Waynesburg, left, has his picture taken by his wife, Barbara, with the Rain Day mascot in Waynesburg Friday.
A.J. Dereume, left, a member of the Groundhog Club Inner Circle and handler of Punxsutawney Phil, wrestles for his top hat with members of the Rain Day committee. Dereume’s hat is the prize for Waynesburg if it rains there before midnight Friday.
Johni Yeager, 7, won the umbrella-decorating contest at Friday’s Rain Day celebration. She was at the event with her stepmother, Ashley Boggess of Waynesburg.
People mingle in the street during Rain Day in Waynesburg Friday.
Chuck Kalb, owner of KK’s Snak Shak in Ellsworth, grills onions and peppers to go with hot sausage at his booth during Rain Day in Waynesburg Friday.
AJ Dereume, left, with the famous Punxsutawney Phil, is introduced to the crowd by master of ceremonies Doug Wilson at Rain Day Friday.
A.J. Dereume, a member of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle who brought Phil to Waynesburg, introduces him to a young girl at the Rain Day festival Friday.
WAYNESBURG – The world’s most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, brought sunshine and warm temperatures with him to Waynesburg to join in the Rain Day celebrations Friday.
“I was very honored to be asked to be here,” said A.J. Dereume, a member of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle who brought Phil to the festival.
Dereume, who goes by the very appropriate nickname of “Rainmaker,” made a hat bet with the Rain Day Committee that it wouldn’t rain. If he loses that bet, he’ll have to give up his top hat, the one he wears every Feb. 2 when he pulls Punxy Phil out of a tree stump to predict if they’re be an early spring.
“I feel like I’ll be one of the lucky ones who will get to keep his hat,” Dereume said Friday morning.
He said he’s been with the Groundhog Club for seven years and his nickname started when his father was in the club.
“My dad always joked that whenever he went on vacation it would rain, and that’s why he came up with the ‘Rainmaker,'” Dereume said. “I usually bring the rain too, but I’m hoping today it will go the other way.”
Dereume said they were happy to make the trip to Waynesburg, although Phil refused to leave the comfort of his barrel.
“We appreciate this festival because it’s about promoting your town and giving people who have moved away something to come back for,” he said.
The Rainmaker’s was only one of two hat bets this year. The West Greene Pioneers varsity softball team, which made history this year by going to the state championships in June, also made a bet with Waynesburg Mayor Duncan Berryman, which was officiated later Friday evening.
Another celebrity that hit the street festival Friday was Wayne Drop, Rain Day’s new mascot, who wandered from booth to booth posing for selfies with people. The annual Rain Day umbrella decorating contest had one contestant, Johni Yeager, 7, of Waynesburg whose yellow umbrella with pink decorations was able to keep the rain and sun off of her, but not the bugs.
When asked how long it took her to decorate it, she said, “Um, it took about–ah, Mom! There’s a bug in here!”
By late Friday afternoon, there still were no reports of rain, which would make it the second consecutive year for a drought on Rain Day.