Every year the members of the Grundsow Lodsch Nummer Sexa and their guests eagerly await the appearance of Sammi the groundhog.

"Grundsow Lodsch is German for groundhog lodge," explained lodge President Lee Haas."It's a farmer thing. In Germany the farmers await the badger in spring to predict the length of winter. We adapted here in America by adopting the groundhog."The group gathers behind Cherry's Diner right off Route 209 and Polk Township Road. This year the festivities are expected to begin around 6:30 a.m., but a valued member of the group will be missing.This past Friday, a life-time member of the lodge, Harold L. Kreger died.According to Haas, Kreger had been a member of the lodge and had served as an officer on the board as well. Kreger always took part in the Groundhog Day ceremonies and was responsible for translating the predictions from Pennsylvania German into English.Haas says that the ceremony always includes a prayer and a reading of the prediction.This year Haas expects that several of the members of the lodge will speak about Harold Kreger as well.If Sammi see her shadow on Tuesday morning we will be looking at six more weeks of winter.The forecast for Tuesday is currently calling for partly cloudy skies with a high of 43 degrees.See Page 4 for the complete obituary.