There is a devote Florida that crafted a twelve-foot-large monument in the heart of city to exalt the lowly possum. Now, why would anyone may possibly like to do that?
Nicely, to start out, heroes are really hard to study During this set in place Florida - the Panhandle money of scotland - Wausau, home of under 500 folks in the course of Washington County about ten miles south of Chipley.
Why not the possum, an unlikely hero To place it mildly? No one else puts the possum over a pedestal. Why not Wausau?
Secondly, in 1982, Wausau acquired Ill and Sick and tired of being left out in the Florida lists of entertaining, fairs and festivals. Every location in Florida requires a festival. And not 1 set in position Florida incorporates a Possum Competition. Why don't you Wausau?
If you haven't long gone to Washington County, you almost certainly will Imagine I'm So, generating this up. Should you have attended Washington County, you'll comprehend - and know this is the real Tale.
Wausau, it proved, experienced some fairly highly effective possum politicians in early '80s. Here's two or three issues they completed:
They persuaded the Florida Legislature to proclaim the initial Saturday in August as Possum Working day in Florida. That led to your constructing with the monument along Point out Freeway 77 in Wausau.
They even bought The usa Congress in advertising and marketing the possum. Congress joined the pleasurable by the resources for Wausau's Possum Palace so Wausau could have a spot to keep its annual Pleasurable Working day and Possum Competition. Showcasing a queen contest and possum auction, among the other issues, the festival appeals to plenty of individuals on a yearly basis, moreover they find it irresistible.
Day trip for some educating of Northerners below. The South's possum is identical lowly animal you call opossum, (Why here use seven letters when 6 is going to do?) It is a smallish marsupial that life in trees and reveals its unappealing human body only during the night time. This is why, if you are inside correct commit Florida, you'll be able to listen to possum hunters' dogs baying and barking. Treed by canines, the possum 'freezes', so It truly is not so hard to capture (or shoot) 1.
An inscription around the monument in the course of Wausau cites the possum's role in supplying 'both fur and foodstuff' throughout the whole centuries. It goes on say: 'Their existence in this article has presented a resource of nutritious and flavorful food items in typical times and incorporates been a vital guide to human survival when in distress and important have to have.'
Snicker if you're keen on. The people today of Wausau will snicker along with you - while downing baked possum and sweet potatoes.