A Place in Florida - Let's Cheer the Lowly Possum
A Place in Florida - Let's Cheer the Lowly Possum
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There is a set in position Florida that created a 12-foot-superior monument in the center of town to exalt the lowly possum. Now, why would any person wish to accomplish that?
Well, to start, heroes take time and effort to discover in just this put in Florida - the Panhandle money of scotland- Wausau, property of under 500 people in the center of Washington County about 10 miles south of Chipley.
Why not the possum, an unlikely hero as you should be expecting? Nobody else puts the possum over the pedestal. Why not Wausau?
Secondly, back again in 1982, Wausau bought fed up with currently being omitted While using the Florida lists of enjoyment, fairs and festivals. Each make investments Florida desires a Pageant. Rather than a single location in Florida incorporates a Possum Festival. Why not Wausau?
If you have never visited Washington County, you almost certainly will Imagine I'm building this up. In case you have attended Washington County, you'll recognize - and know This may be a genuine story.
Wausau, it proved, had some really highly effective possum politicians throughout the early '80s. Here are two points they achieved:
They persuaded the Florida Legislature to proclaim the 1st Saturday in August as Possum Day in Florida. That led on the building With all the monument alongside State Highway 77 in Wausau.
They even acquired America Congress to market the possum. Congress joined the pleasurable by providing the money for Wausau's Possum Palace so Wausau would have an area to carry its yearly Pleasurable Day and Possum Festival. Showcasing a queen contest and possum auction, between other points, the Pageant attracts thousands of people today every year, they usually like it.
Day out for loads of educating of Northerners listed here. The South's possum is similar lowly animal you simply call opossum, (Why use 7 letters when six will do?) It's a smallish marsupial that lives in trees and exhibits its unsightly entire body only in the evening. This is why, When you are within the website correct devote Florida, you'll be able to hear possum hunters' dogs baying and barking. Treed by dogs, the possum 'freezes', so it's simple enough to catch (or shoot) 1.
An inscription on the monument in the midst of Wausau cites the possum's position in supplying 'both of those fur and foodstuff' throughout the centuries. It goes on to say: 'Their existence here has provided an origin of nutritious and flavorful foodstuff in usual instances and possesses been a crucial support to human survival when in distress and important need.'
Chuckle for those who'd like. The persons of Wausau will snicker along with you - whilst downing baked possum and sweet potatoes.