Concord Charlie says winter is over

ATHENS — An inch or so of overnight snow on the ground apparently did not deter the legendary Concord University groundhog from venturing out in Athens on Thursday morning.

Concord President Dr. Kendra Boggess reported at the university’s annual Groundhog Day breakfast that she got a text message from Concord Charlie predicting that winter is practically over.

Speaking at the conclusion of the 44th yearly breakfast, she told the crowd, “My phone is vibrating. Let’s see. Guess what? He did not see his shadow. How could he? So we are going to have an early spring.”

She could not resist commenting on the early-morning forecast of six more weeks of winter from another groundhog that “lives just north of here,” Boggess said.

“And I will tell you: Punxsutawney Phil ‘went the other way,’ but he was playing to the crowd!” she said.

She spoke in front of a large projected image that purported to show a female groundhog dressed in curlers claiming that Phil is “a serial liar.”

An old European tradition holds that if a groundhog sees its shadow on the morning of Feb. 2, it’s scared back into its burrow and takes spring with it, ensuring six additional weeks of winter. If the groundhog frolics about on an overcast Groundhog Day, it signifies an early spring.

The sky was cloudy in Athens on Thursday morning. The snowfall had put Concord on an inclement weather schedule, and Mercer County Schools had already decided to close.

The annual breakfast at University Point on campus, however, went on as scheduled. About 60 diners showed up for a hearty Appalachian-style breakfast — and the weather prediction.

In front of Boggess on the speaker’s podium were carved replicas of Concord Charlie and his wife Charlene. She said she values the friendship of the groundhogs, who “live in my office,” she said.

The audience was amused by another story, in which Boggess described a phone call last year from the Appalachian League baseball franchise that plays in the summer in Princeton.

“You may have heard of the Princeton Whistlepigs,” she said. “They called my office, and they wanted to borrow Charlie … as a symbol of excellence for their team. I didn’t want to do that to him. I didn’t think it was fair. He was ready to burrow. He didn’t want to get out. So I didn’t upset him. I kept him here.”

Since its inception in 1978, the breakfast has been the venue to present an annual Grand Groundhog Watcher Award to “someone who has positively impacted the life and culture of West Virginia,” according to CU Vice President for Advancement Sarah Turner.

This year’s recipient is Rusty Sarver of Princeton, a Concord business administration graduate who is a co-owner of multiple successful businesses. For more than five years, he has been chairman of the board of directors at Princeton Community Hospital.

Sarver “has made a significant impact on our area for his work and his volunteer efforts,” said Turner.

Sarver said in a post-breakfast press gathering, “Concord’s a big part of my life. I’m very honored that they asked me to come back and say a few words at a place that means a lot to me.”

In his remarks at the breakfast, Sarver used the opportunity to combine his emotional personal story with his devotion to Concord, to his religious life through Johnston Chapel Baptist Church, and his advocacy for the local hospital and for CU’s new program to train nurses.

“Concord is a great school. It’s a great education,” he said. “They’re starting a new nursing program, and we need nurses in our community — and in all communities, really. There’s a national and statewide nursing shortage.

“The only way to staff those needs is through education,” he said.

When he and his future wife Andrea were still teenagers, Andrea was injured in a car accident, Sarver said. She still uses a wheelchair.

“Princeton Community Hospital was paramount in her survival, truly, and her excelling in her occupation as a psychologist,” he said.

Concord and the hospital “played a big role” in their lives, he said. “Those are places that are near and dear to both of our hearts.”

On Thursday, Sarver wore a bright green tie bearing the words “Happy Groundhog Day.” He said the tie was on loan from Princeton Rescue Squad CEO Stacey Hicks, who was last year’s Grand Groundhog Watcher.

“He’s passed that down,” Sarver said. “I think that’s a neat tradition, and I’ll pass it down to whoever they ask (to accept the award) next year.”

He said about the groundhog’s prediction, “I don’t know how accurate it is, but it’s a nice way for everybody to get together, especially on a snowy day, have breakfast, hear about some things that are going on in the community, and try to support Concord.”

He added, “An early spring? I’m ready for it. I’m excited. I just hope it holds true.”