There is a position in Florida that crafted a twelve-foot-higher monument in the guts of town to exalt the lowly possum. Now, why would any one ought to do that?
Properly, initial off, heroes just take time and effort to have on this commit Florida - the Panhandle capital of scotland- Wausau, household of below five hundred persons in the center of Washington County about 10 miles south of Chipley.
Why not the possum, an unlikely hero to put it mildly? No one else places the possum that has a pedestal. Why not Wausau?
Next, back again 1982, Wausau obtained Ill and tired with remaining neglected in the Florida lists of exciting, fairs and festivals. Every place in position Florida needs a Competition. Instead of 1 spend Florida contains a Possum Festival. Why not Wausau?
If you have not long gone to Washington County, you probably will Believe I am producing this up. If you have absent to Washington County, you are going to realize - and know It is just a legitimate Tale.
Wausau, it proved, experienced some really impressive possum politicians while in the early '80s. Listed below are a couple of matters they attained:


They persuaded the Florida Legislature to proclaim the 1st Saturday in August as Possum Working day in Florida. That led into the setting up with the monument along State Freeway 77 in Wausau.

They even got The us Congress in advertising the possum. Congress joined the pleasurable by supplying the cash for Wausau's Possum Palace so Wausau might have a spot to hold its yearly Enjoyable Day and Possum Pageant. Featuring a queen contest and possum auction, amongst other points, the Pageant attracts Countless folks Every and every year, and In addition website they discover it irresistible.
Day out for many educating of Northerners listed here. The South's possum is definitely the identical lowly animal you phone opossum, (Why use seven letters when 6 will execute?) It is a smallish marsupial that lives in trees and shows its ugly overall body only during the night. That is why, When you are throughout the appropriate place in position Florida, you could hear possum hunters' puppies baying and barking. Treed by canine, the possum 'freezes', so it's not tricky to catch (or shoot) 1.
An inscription within the monument in the heart of Wausau cites the possum's position in furnishing 'both fur and foods' through the entire generations. It goes on say: 'Their presence here has furnished a useful resource of nutritious and flavorful meals in ordinary periods and is made up of been A necessary assist to human survival in occasions of distress and critical want.'
Chuckle if you like. The folks of Wausau will laugh alongside - when downing baked possum and sweet potatoes.