Groundhogs, woodchucks, marmots. No matter what you call them, these furry rodents find a special place in our hearts on February 2: Groundhog Day. Elementary students across the country are depleting reams of brown construction paper this week, cutting and gluing their predictions for a long winter or an early spring. Really, a person does wonder why any weatherman bothers to show up for work that day.

Three towns are busy as, well, beavers this week planning for the big event. With balls, pancake breakfasts, parades, and even movie showings, here are some places you won’t want to hibernate:

Jimmy the Groundhog

Sun Prairie, Wisconsin: Jimmy

Claiming to be the Groundhog Capital of the World, all eyes will be on Jimmy for his 63^rd Annual Groundhog Day Prognostication. Staged by the Chamber of Commerce at 7:10 AM (sunrise) at Cannery Square Plaza in downtown Sun Prairie, Mayor Joe Chase will interpret Jimmy’s prediction—an early spring or six more weeks of winter—to the crowd of onlookers. People around the world will call the Groundhog Hot Line, 800-400-6162, to get up-to-the-minute details of Jimmy’s prediction. The hotline is open 7:15AM to 9 AM Groundhog Day.

Town festivities start the previous Saturday (January 29) with a Groundhog Day Community Celebration. Beginning with a pancake breakfast, the day continues with entertainment, a birthday party for human groundhogs (people born on February 2), roaming “Jimmy,” and ends with the 37th annual Groundhog Ball. Now, I’m personally partial to Jimmy. But only because I live in Sun Prairie and also because find Punxsutawney a hard word to spell. Having pet Jimmy in his cage earlier this winter (he “purrs”), I think he’ll make the town proud again this year.

Punxsutawney Phil

Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania: Phil

Punxsutawney Phil, Pennsylvania’s world-famous prognosticating groundhog. Each year on Feb. 2 the famous groundhog emerges from his burrow and decides if we’ll be having more wintry weather or if spring will be coming soon. A tradition that originated in Germany was carried to Pennsylvania in 1887 and is now a world-renowned, family friendly celebration. Tens of thousands of visitors trek to the top of Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and wait with anticipation to hear Punxsutawney Phil’s weather prediction.

Not only does this celebration include Phil emerging from his burrow, the days leading up to the big event are filled with family festivities including breakfast with Phil, a kid’s craft corner, s’mores with the Inner Circle, the caretakers of Phil and a Groundhog Day birthday party for those guests whose birthday falls on the same day as Phil’s. A close-by attraction also worth a visit is the Weather Discovery Center in Punxsutawney, also known as the “Weather Capital of the World.” At the Discovery Center, visitors of all ages can walk a mile in Phil’s shoes, participating and exploring different weather technologies and prediction techniques.

Woodstock Willie

Woodstock, Illinois: Willie

Celebrate Groundhog Day at Gobbler’s Knob, otherwise known as the Woodstock Square Park (official prognostication is from 7:00AM- 7:30AM on the morning of February 2nd). Brave the weather and gather on the Woodstock Square to see Woodstock Willie emerge from his tree trunk home just as he did during the Groundhog Day movie filmed in Woodstock in 1992. To quote Bill Murry’s character in the movie, “Where else can you gather to worship a large rat, and have such a good time doing it?”

Come for the food, the shopping, the entertainment and special event—shadow or no shadow, one thing is for sure—you will have a good time in Woodstock during Groundhog Days. Festivities start with a groundhog awakening and continue with a movie showing, chili-cook off, charity dance, walking tours, pancake breakfast, and story telling. For more information,  official Groundhog Days in Woodstock website or call the hotline at 815-338-4483.

Around Christmas many of you make an effort to do a little more for others. There are countless organizations doing good things who need our support, and so the editors at Road Trips for Families wanted to take a moment to shine the spotlight on a few of the organizations we believe in. Each editor has chosen one, and we hope you will take a moment and check them out. Feel free to share your favorites with us in the comments below.

Plant With Purpose
(Matt Forster, Road Trips Dad)

Last year I edited a book by Scott Sabin, the executive director of Plant With Purpose. The book is Tending to Eden, and it outlines the mission of his organization, which is to fight the root causes of poverty by renewing environmental resources. In places like Haiti, Plant With Purpose helps communities reforest hillsides, which in turn reduces erosion, cleans up the water supply, and improves agriculture. Suddenly impoverished people who once had to walk miles to collect drinkable water each day can drink from their own streams, grow their own crops, and began to give back to their neighbors as well. By helping people reclaim their land, they’ve helped them reclaim their future.

Please take a moment to browse through their website. Online you can fund the planting of trees — one tree ($1), a hillside ($25), or a forest ($100). You can also see where the organization is working and give to support individual villages.

The Humane Society
(Sheri Wallace, Road Trips Editor)

As a former pre-vet major, and animal lover, I always donate to The Humane Society. I have other charities as well, but The Humane Society has been on my list since high school, and now we try to do more active donations, like volunteering or taking food by the shelter as a family. When we travel, we try to go by a shelter and help out or take them a donation, and learn about their animal problems locally. It’s given us a great theme for our travels and our daughter really enjoys those trips. It’s frustrating that the problem of unwanted and homeless animals hasn’t improved much since I was in college, but educating kids is a big part of changing that for the better.

Pancreatic Cancer Fun Run

PanCan
(Julie Henning, “Feed Me” and Geocaching)

I would much rather my favorite charity be an organization combating childhood obesity or supporting early literacy. I would also much rather have my dad still living; especially at Christmas time. At the age of 60, quite suddenly, sadly, and abruptly my dad passed from pancreatic cancer in 2009. A nasty, ruthless thing, only 5% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive longer than five years after their initial diagnosis. Oh yeah, and it’s hereditary.

My plea is to educate people about the symptoms of pancreatic cancer and to support the network of scientists looking for treatments and cures. Not to diminish breast cancer and cardiovascular disease (which are better understood, more wide-spread, and also run in our family), I wanted to give the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCan) a few moments in the spotlight. With a motto of Know it. Fight it. End it., you can donate through the website or participate in fund raising events taking place all over the country. In the photo on the left, my oldest son and I completed a 2 mile fun run in Madison, Wisconsin, earlier this fall. Go purple pride!

There’s more road trip news than we can fit into our regular features. The Friday News Roundup gives families the stories we think are the most important every week, all in one place. Your family road trip just got a little bit easier, week-by-week.

Healthy Heart Trails
Massachusetts families have a new challenge: walk 75 miles before Labor Day. DCR’s new Healthy Heart Trails make this easy. With help from Cascadian Farm and LARABAR (each are donating $20,000 to help preserve and restore Massachusetts’ trails, and are publishing trail guides plus snack samples), the Healthy Heart Trails are all approximately 1.5 miles in length and are easy to moderate difficulty level — perfect for families. Many of the trails are also ADA. Download a walking log here.

Grand Opening: Virginia Fairbanks Art & Nature Park at the Indianapolis Museum of Art
Sunday, June 20th will be the grand opening for one of the largest museum art parks in the country. Opening weekend features many special events, including special family-friendly performances and activities. “100 Acres”, as the art park is affectionately known, is the only art park in the country to feature the ongoing commission of site-specific artworks. Located on 100 acres of woodlands, wetlands, lake and meadow adjacent to the Museum’s 52 acre campus, 100 Acres is also bordered by the White River and runs contiguous to the IMA’s current 52-acre campus, a large portion of which is comprised of historic landscapes and gardens.  The land, a former gravel pit, has evolved through a natural reclamation into its current state of untamed woodlands, wetlands, and a 35-acre lake. Admission to the IMA galleries and the park is free.

There’s more road trip news than we can fit into our regular features. The Friday News Roundup gives families the stories we think are the most important every week, all in one place. Your family road trip just got a little bit easier, week-by-week.

World Oceans Day — June 8th
In honor of 50 years of Dr. Seuss’s One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fishentertaining children around the world, Random House Children’s Books, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, The Ocean Project, and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) are partnering to celebrate World Oceans Day, this Tuesday (June 8, 2010).

Look for fun events and around the country, all teaching kids about our ocean’s great diversity of life and the important things we can all do to protect our shared world ocean. Since the 2010 World Oceans Day honors former La Jolla resident Dr. Seuss, visitors to San Diego County will be able to choose from a host of special events throughout the region, including the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Botanic Garden, SEA LIFE Aquarium, Birch Aquarium at Scripps, and many others.

National Parks Offer Free Admission This Weekend
This weekend your favorite national parks are free. America’s Best Idea, our national parks, have several free days throughout the year to help families get out and experience a new park or just go hang out at an old favorite. Here’s the list of all fee-free days. National Trails Day on June 5 is an opportune time to hike a portion of the 17,000 miles of trail located in national parks. Additionally, the National Park Service National Trails System manages more than 50,000 miles of historic and scenic trails of national importance, such as the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail and more than 1,000 national recreation trails of local or regional significance.

Free Saltwater Fishing in Florida
Both residents and nonresidents in Florida can fish for saltwater species around the state without a license during the weekend of June 5 and 6, which is the first weekend after the popular red snapper season opens in the Gulf on June 1, 2010. All other fishing rules apply. The free weekend is an effort to combat the lack of tourism caused by the oil spill in the Gulf. Chairman Rodney Baretto of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said that the area has been seeing cancellations because many visitors thought the oil had impacted Florida fishing. “We are not experiencing any oil impacts, and the fact remains that Florida is open for business,” said Baretto.

There’s more road trip news than we can fit into our regular features. The Friday News Roundup gives families the stories we think are the most important every week, all in one place. Your family road trip just got a little bit easier, week-by-week.

Free Admission to Museums for Military Families
Memorial Day is a great time to enjoy one of the more than 600 museums offering free admission to military families this summer. A partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts is making the program, known as Blue Star Museums, possible. The list of museums includes science centers, children’s museums and even New York’s Museum of Modern Art. There are free admission sites in all 50 states.

More Free Family Tours
The Marine Mammal Center (just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco) is expanding its popular low-cost guided tours to every day of the week (except Mondays and national holidays) during the summer. Self-guided tours of this working marine mammal hospital, research and education center are still free. Visitors who want to make a day of it can hike the miles of park trails around the facility and picnic along the beach. Other attractions in the park include the Nike Missile Site and Cold War Museum, Point Bonita Lighthouse, Fort Cronkhite, Headlands Center for the Arts, and the Headlands Visitors Center. Visitors to the park can stay at the Youth Hostel or the new Cavallo Point hotel and spa at Fort Baker.

Highway Stripes Paint Shortage?
Apparently, the paint used to paint highway stripes is in short supply. Two ingredients, methyl methacrylate and titanium dioxide, are not being produced as fast as demand for them in products like paint, sunscreen and LCD screens. Roads with faded stripes are significantly less safe. More than 60% of all traffic fatalities are caused by straying drivers, according to a 2008 study by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Everyone hopes the issue is resolved by the end of the summer, but in the meantime, pay extra attention on your family road trip.

Planning Goes Mobile
Just in time for the summer vacation season, the Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association (KCCVA) has launched a mobile version of its award-winning website. Now accessible via mobile device at VisitKC.com, the industry-leading mobile site features traveler discounts, top events and all the necessary tools for planning a trip to Kansas City. (To preview the mobile site on your personal computer, go to http://m.VisitKC.com).

Tots Travel Too
Quick. What’s the one thing families can’t get at a hotel? If you guessed a crib or a portable crib,you’re right. Most hotels do not offer them because of the problem of sanitizing them between guests. But Marriott hotel brands Courtyard, Fairfield Inn & Suites, Springhill Suites, Residence Inn and Townplace Suites now offer a travel crib and laundered COVERPLAY removable crib slipcover to families upon request. You can also ask the front desk for childproofing supplies such as outlet covers, nightlights, baby shampoo, and baby lotion, plus disposable bibs will be available in the breakfast areas. One less thing to pack for a road trip!