There is a location in Florida that created a 12-foot-substantial monument in the center of town to exalt the lowly possum. Now, why would anyone really need to do that?
Perfectly, to start with, heroes take time and effort to locate using this set in position Florida - the Panhandle capital of scotland- Wausau, household of much less than 500 folks for the duration of Washington County about ten miles south of Chipley.
Why not the possum, an unlikely hero as you'd probably count on? Nobody else places the possum above a pedestal. Why not Wausau?
Secondly, past 1982, Wausau obtained Ill and worn out with remaining neglected of your Florida lists of fun, fairs and festivals. Just about every devote Florida needs a festival. And never 1 spend Florida incorporates a Possum Pageant. Why not Wausau?
If you have never frequented Washington County, you probably will think I am causeing this for being up. When you have been to Washington County, you can expect to have an understanding of - and know Here is the accurate story.
Wausau, it turned out, experienced some quite powerful possum politicians in the early '80s. Allow me to share two things they attained:
They persuaded the Florida Legislature to proclaim the 1st Saturday in August as Possum Day in Florida. That led on the constructing with the monument alongside State Freeway 77 in Wausau.
They even bought The usa Congress to publicize the possum. Congress joined the pleasurable by the resources for Wausau's Possum Palace so Wausau might need a spot to carry its yearly Fun Day and Possum Festival. Featuring a queen contest and possum auction, amid other points, the Competition appeals to lots of people each year, moreover they adore it.
Time out for many educating of Northerners in this article. The South's possum is similar lowly animal you call opossum, (Why use seven letters when six will accomplish?) It's a smallish marsupial that lives in trees and demonstrates its unsightly overall body only during the night. This is exactly why, once you find yourself inside appropriate spend Florida, you may hear possum hunters' canine baying and barking. Treed by dogs, the possum 'freezes', so It'll be effortless to lure (or shoot) 1.
An inscription to the monument in more info the center of Wausau cites the possum's role in giving 'both fur and foodstuff' from the full hundreds of years. It goes onto say: 'Their presence here has supplied an origin of nutritious and flavorful meals in regular instances and has been a vital assistance to human survival when in distress and demanding need.'
Chortle if you like. The people today of Wausau will giggle along with you - whilst downing baked possum and sweet potatoes.