Dr. William Donner, a Professor of Anthropology at Kutztown University, speaks about his book, “Serious Nonsense: Groundhog Lodges, Versammlinge, and Pennsylvania German Heritage,” 1 p.m. Feb. 4, Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, 432 W. Walnut St., Allentown.

“Dr. Donner’s book opens the doors of a uniquely Pennsylvania German institution, the Groundhog Lodge,” said Joseph Garrera, Executive Director of the Museum. “Groundhog Lodges celebrate both ethnic heritage and patriotic American identity.”

The Pennsylvania Dutch, technically, “Deutsch,” also sometimes called Pennsylvania Germans, are people who moved from Germany, mainly from the Palatine region, to America in the 1700s or very early 1800s. They had a major influence on the development of the Lehigh Valley.

Pennsylvania Germans brought with them the tradition of forecasting the weather on Feb. 2. In medieval German-speaking countries, the badger predicted the weather on the church holiday known as “Candlemas” (Feb. 2). If the hibernating badger saw his shadow that day, he would crawl back in his hole for another four weeks, during which winter would continue.

In Pennsylvania, the early Germanic settlers found no badgers but a plentiful number of groundhogs, which also hibernate in winter. The Pennsylvania Germans applied the badger tradition to the groundhog.

In the early 1930s, Pennsylvania Germans created a cultural gathering, the Grundsau Lodge or Groundhog Lodge, at which everyone must speak the Pennsylvania German dialect. These lodges became a major symbol of Pennsylvania German culture, and the groundhog himself became an unofficial ethnic symbol.

Copies of Donner’s book will be available for purchase and the author will sign copies following the presentation.