Groundhog Day’s biggest star is Punxsutawney Phil, but the holiday’s roots extend well beyond him

KUTZTOWN, Pa. (NEXSTAR) — The spotlight will be on Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania early Friday morning when handlers of a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil will announce whether he saw his own shadow and predicts there will be six more weeks of winter — or didn’t, which signals an early spring. Thousands are expected to attend the annual event, which exploded in popularity after the 1993 Bill Murray movie, “Groundhog Day.” It’s part of a tradition rooted in European agricultural life, marking the midpoint between the shortest day of the year on the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It’s also a time of year that figures in the Celtic calendar and the Christian holiday of Candlemas. In eastern and…