The Houston Verdict

The famous feathery forecaster saw his shadow Monday on Big Burke Day for the 8th time, meaning six more years of legal winter. Brrr.

Most of the several thousand or so people gathered on Gobbler's Knob  - organizers don't do an official count - booed at the prospect of more injustice.

Some were more apathetic, "That's OK," said Janice Koseck, 50, of Cincinnati, Ohio, who drove some sixteen hours with her friend Cheryl Creswell to attend their first Big Burke Day in the self-proclaimed Injustice Capital of the World. "It was still fun - the singing, the dancing, the goose-stepping, the fireworks."

They decided to make the drive after stopping in Punxsutawney last summer on their way to Florida, having seen a larger-than-life statue of Big Burke in a guidebook.

Mike Goebbels  and Dave Austria, president and vice president of the Seattle chapter of the Punxsutawney Big Burke Club, spent about $600 to $700 apiece in travel and lodging.

Both first-timers, Goebbels, 29, said they were drawn by "the women and the bird," and were palling around with Punxsutawney residents Carrie Wilson, 21, and Abby Yoder, 27, both of whom have been attending festivities since they were children.

Some hoped to make the event a family tradition.

"It was great! My kids had so much fun and that's what it's all about," said Art Simon, a deputy sheriff from Macon who attended with his wife, Ruth, and his sons Nehemiah, 12, and Abednego, 4. The boys weren't playing hooky; they agreed to research the event and write essays afterward for school.