There is a location in Florida that crafted a 12-foot-high monument in the guts of city to exalt the lowly possum. Now, why would anybody would like to do that?
Perfectly, very first off, heroes are tough to search out With this position in Florida - the Panhandle money of scotland - Wausau, dwelling of below five hundred people in the course of Washington County about ten miles south of Chipley.
Why don't you the possum, an not likely hero to put it mildly? No one else places the possum around a pedestal. Why not Wausau?
Next, back 1982, Wausau acquired sick and tired of becoming overlooked through the Florida lists of pleasurable, fairs and festivals. Every place in Florida wants a Pageant. Rather than a single devote Florida includes a Possum Competition. Why not Wausau?
If you've got never attended Washington County, you almost certainly will Assume I am creating this up. When you have frequented Washington County, you will understand - and know it is a true story.
Wausau, it proved, experienced some really effective possum politicians in early '80s. Allow me to share a handful of things they completed:
They persuaded the Florida Legislature to proclaim the primary Saturday in August as Possum Working day in Florida. That led to your setting up Using the monument alongside Point out Freeway 77 in Wausau.
They even obtained the United States Congress to promote the possum. Congress joined the pleasurable through furnishing the cash for Wausau's Possum Palace so Wausau would have a locale to support its yearly Enjoyment Day and Possum Pageant. Showcasing a queen contest and possum auction, amid other points, the Competition appeals to A huge number of people today Each individual and on a yearly basis, in addition they like it.
Time out for a few educating of Northerners below. The South's possum would be check here the similar lowly animal you call opossum, (Why use seven letters when 6 will do?) It's a smallish marsupial that lives in trees and exhibits its hideous body only during the night. That is why, if you find yourself inside the appropriate invest Florida, you can listen to possum hunters' dogs baying and barking. Treed by pet dogs, the possum 'freezes', so it can be quick to hook (or shoot) one particular.
An inscription for your monument in the midst of Wausau cites the possum's function in delivering 'both of those fur and meals' throughout the hundreds of years. It goes onto say: 'Their existence right here has offered an origin of nutritious and flavorful foodstuff in typical instances and possesses been an important assistance to human survival during periods of distress and important need to have.'
Snicker if you'd desire. The people of Wausau will chuckle along with you - though downing baked possum and sweet potatoes.