Beyond the Byline: As Mr. Toma turns 96, Punxsutawney Phil is at it again

WILKES-BARRE — Sunday, February 2, marks two special events.

Punxsutawney Phil will tell the world if winter is almost over or if it will continue for six more weeks.

How a groundhog knows this is not clear — something to do with seeing his shadow.

The other major event on Feb. 2 is George Toma’s birthday.

Yes, Mr. Toma — the Sod God, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Man, the Sodfather — who served as head groundskeeper for the first 57 Super Bowls, turns 96 today.

And what a Super Bowl this next one will be — it will feature Mr. Toma’s beloved Kansas City Chiefs versus the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that represents the state he dearly loves.

I talked to Mr. Toma the other day, and he sounded great. He said he misses seeing “the gang” at the Super Bowl, but not as much as he misses Polish food and “The Valley With a Heart.”

As far as the game, Mr. Toma said, “I think the Chiefs will win it. They have a great coach, a great quarterback and a great defense. But I’ll be happy either way — I love both teams.”

Mr. Toma said his son, Chip, recently visited and brought some kielbasa and made some pierogis for his father.

“I remember my grandmother making kielbasa, and we had a shack in our backyard to smoke it,” he said.

Mr. Toma grew up in Edwardsville, but he has lived in Kansas City since the mid-1950s. He said Wyoming Valley will always be his home.

I have many memories of Mr. Toma, and we’ve had many conversations, but there is one memory that I will never forget.

When he stood in Artillery Park a few summers, he said, “This is my home. The Valley With A Heart is where I tell everybody I’m from. The people here are like family. If it weren’t for what I learned here at this place, I wouldn’t be where I am today. This will always be my hometown.”

Mr. Toma always did his very best, and he has taught just about every groundskeeper for nearly every major sporting venue how to do the job right — “and then some.”

Mr. Toma always says that one day, he will rest on Pringle Hill, overlooking that Valley With a Heart.

In the world of groundskeeping, Mr. Toma is the best there ever was — the G.O.A.T, if you will.

Happy Birthday Mr. Toma.

Back to Punxsutawney Phil

So, are we to really believe that a rodent knows better than a meteorologist? Punxsutawney Phil has no radar system to monitor, no tracking capabilities, not meters or barometers or anything to make a reasonable prediction of what our weather will be like for the next six weeks.

But I get that it’s all a big production that some positive impact on Punxsutawney for a couple of days each year.

So we now wait to hear if Punxsutawney Phil, that furry groundhog who somehow has been relegated as the state’s foremost weather forecaster, has predicted if spring is on its way — or not.

Hogwash.

A few years ago, we found some fact-checking on the accuracy of all the Punxsutawney Phils and it was revealed that this much-hailed rodent has compiled a 39% accuracy rate for predicting the weather? Not very impressive.

You’d have a better chance of being correct if you flipped a coin.

Phil’s handlers — the Inner Circle — on Gobbler’s Knob actually decide in advance whether Phil will see his shadow during his appearance before the cameras. It makes you seriously question the authenticity of Phil’s credentials as a weather prognosticator.

Can a groundhog really see its shadow? And if it could, how do these handlers know if he does or doesn’t?

I suppose Phil is supposed to tell us if we’ll get six more weeks of typical, cold, snowy winter weather. Really? We expect a 15-pound rodent to tell us this? It’s been 139 years for this extravaganza.

Where and when did someone decide a groundhog is the perfect animal to be a weatherman?

But I am certain that Phil’s prediction will be the topic of conversation around the watercooler come Monday morning.

I’ll choose to rely on my Farmer’s Almanac.