There is a devote Florida that developed a 12-foot-high monument in the center of town to exalt the lowly possum. Now, why would any individual may well like to do that?
Very well, to start with, heroes acquire time and effort to acquire With this make investments Florida - the Panhandle town of Wausau, home of less than 500 folks in the course of Washington County about ten miles south of Chipley.
Why don't you the possum, an unlikely hero to put it mildly? No one else puts the possum on a pedestal. Why not Wausau?
Next, in 1982, Wausau acquired Ill and tired of remaining disregarded during the Florida lists of exciting, fairs and festivals. Just about every place in Florida needs a Competition. And not a single dedicate Florida includes a Possum Festival. Why not Wausau?
If you have not attended Washington County, you probably will Feel I'm making this up. If you have been to Washington County, you'll understand - and know this is a real story.
Wausau, it proved, had some fairly strong possum politicians through the early '80s. Listed here are several factors they accomplished:
They persuaded the Florida Legislature to proclaim the very first Saturday in August as Possum Day in Florida. That led into the making inside the monument alongside Point out Highway seventy seven in Wausau.
They even acquired the United States Congress to sector the possum. Congress joined the exciting by giving the cash for Wausau's Possum Palace so Wausau would've a site to help its annual Entertaining Day and Possum Pageant. Showcasing a queen contest and possum auction, between other factors, the festival attracts lots of people yearly, and they adore it.
Day out for many educating of Northerners right here. The South's possum is similar lowly animal you call opossum, (Why use seven letters when six can perform?) It is a smallish marsupial that life in trees and shows its unsightly body only at nighttime. This is exactly why, once you end up within the proper devote Florida, you can hear possum hunters' pet dogs baying and barking. Treed by puppies, the possum 'freezes', so it can be quick to hook (or shoot) a person.
An inscription around the monument in the center of Wausau cites the possum's function in offering 'both fur and food stuff' in the generations. It goes onto say: 'Their existence here has delivered a source of nutritious and flavorful food stuff in ordinary times and it has been an essential assist to human survival in moments of distress and significant need.'
Laugh In order for you. The folks of Wausau will chortle along with you - although read more downing baked possum and sweet potatoes.