Expand<\/a><\/p>\nGiuseppe, their \u201cgreat prognosticator,\u201d won\u2019t eat the grapes, but he will pick one, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe will indicate which one he\u2019s favoring, and then he will whisper to our ferret handler, who speaks \u2018ferretese,\u2019 as far as I know, and we will read the appropriate matching scroll,\u201d McAndrew said.<\/p>\n
The idea originated in McAndrew\u2019s barber chair while he chatted with fellow founding father, co-organizer and event President Matt Catanzaro, who always wanted to visit Punxsutawney for Groundhog Day but never got the chance. They joked about holding their own event in Jessup.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody\u2019s laughing at me, and I said, \u2018I think that\u2019s a great idea. I think we could pull this off,\u2019\u201d McAndrew recalled.<\/p>\n
They brainstormed, but they faced one major challenge for Groundhog Day.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere do we procure a groundhog?\u201d McAndrew said.<\/p>\n
Luckily, McAndrew had a groundhog living under his front porch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI waited for him and waited for him, and he popped his head out, and I made a grab for him \u2014 and it was like a standoff,\u201d he said. \u201cWe both froze, and he bared his teeth at me.\u201d<\/p>\n
McAndrew decided he needed to keep his fingers as a barber, so they needed to find a new animal. A friend had a pair of ferrets, and in need of an Italian name that goes well with Jessup, they decided on Jessup Giuseppe, McAndrew said.<\/p>\n
With a mascot and name, they opted to hold the event on a Sunday rather than Groundhog Day\u2019s usual Monday tradition because more people will be off work, he said, explaining that although their animal is different, they \u201cstill want to have the traditional vibe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something about it that people are drawn to. \u2026 It\u2019s part of the magic,\u201d McAndrew said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to go with the traditional outfit, the top hats, the tuxedo, the long coats.\u201d<\/p>\n
They did run into some Groundhog Day purists, though.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some people out here, and it\u2019s a very small percent, maybe a half a percent of our engagement online, are just incensed and furious that we\u2019re not using a groundhog,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s part of the fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event is also a collaboration with local businesses, who will either have a presence at the event or special Jessup Groundhog Day-themed offerings throughout the day, including JAK\u2019s Pub & Eatery, Jessup\u2019s Corner Kitchen, the Eatery by Jessica, Old & Brew, Purely Sinful Sweets and Capra Collina Winery. The Jessup 21st Century Association will give out hot chocolate, and there will be live polka-type music by the Brass Storm, McAndrew said. They will also give away top hats to kids, he said.<\/p>\n
JAK\u2019s will host the official after party at 9 a.m., 410 4th Ave.; followed by the after-after party at 1 p.m. at the St. Ubaldo Society Chapel, 310 3rd Ave.\n<\/p>\n
As a longtime borough business owner and Midvalley resident, McAndrew hopes for more events that bring people to Jessup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would always love for Jessup to be a town that you drive to and not through,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Jessup Council Vice President Curt Camoni, who is also the executive director of the Lackawanna County Visitors Bureau, said it\u2019s a fun, unique, attention-getting event. It\u2019ll bring business to Jessup, sending customers to borough restaurants while also helping the nonprofit St. Ubaldo Society when it hosts its after-after party, he said.<\/p>\n
Jessup Groundhog Day is a community effort to support small businesses, and the Jessup 21st Century Association\u2019s inaugural Fall Block Party last year gave the borough a proof-of-concept for events that give people a reason to visit Jessup while also working with small businesses, Camoni said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see this as a fantastic initiative, and I hope that it continues for a long time,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cI bought a great top hat, so I\u2019ve got to get more than one year out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
McAndrew plans to make it an annual event.<\/p>\n
For a complete list of participating businesses, visit the Jessup Groundhog Day Facebook page.<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Punxsutawney Phil has a rival furry forecaster in Jessup. As a spin on the longtime Groundhog Day tradition…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2119,201,182,139,28,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-98294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-jessup","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Jessup](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/STT-L-FERRET-2.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Jessup](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/STT-L-FERRET-4.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Jessup](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/STT-L-FERRET-1.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n