SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, Pa. — It all started with a little rehearsal. Then at noon, a group of people at the Schuylkill Haven High Rise went outside and sang.
"Tom Roy was a DJ in the Lebanon area, and he and his wife submitted ideas for new holidays. This one of his, Hoodie Hoo Day one month before the first day of spring, this stuck, and they started celebrating it in the northern hemisphere. I used to go to Mahanoy city, then we started our own celebration here in Schuylkill Haven," Janis Wise explained.
This is Hoodie Hoo Day. On this date every year, people across Schuylkill County dress up, go outside, make noise, and sing to chase away winter and welcome an early spring.
"On this winter day, people should go outside at noon with their hands high over their heads and chant 'hoodie hoo!' and hope we're more successful this year than we were last year," said Schuylkill Haven Mayor Mike Devlin.
Last year, this crew took on the snow at noon to try and kiss winter goodbye. The dedication is always there. Look no further than Janis Wise's Hoodie Hoo hat.
"Here's my official Hoodie Hoo hat, garden gloves, daffodils, a seed pack that Tom Roy signed up in Mahanoy City in 2002. There's a robin; there's another bird in a nest. There's a robin, all signs of spring," Wise said.
And whether Hoodie Hoo works or not, spring will be here before we know it.