Every Feb. 2, they give their regards to Beauregard

Morley Conn got a text from a friend, who was asking about the weekend.

“Groundhog Day is on Super Bowl Sunday,’’ he wrote. “Just wondering about the party.’’

It didn’t take Morley long to set the record straight.

“Groundhog Day is not on Super Bowl Sunday,’’ she replied. “Super Bowl Sunday is on Groundhog Day.’’

Some folks love Christmas. Others are passionate about Valentine’s Day, partial to Thanksgiving or fans of the Fourth of July.

Not only is Feb. 2 Morley’s favorite holiday, she has a borderline obsession with it.

“The reason why I love Groundhog Day is we put so much pressure on a little rodent,’’ Morley said. “He sees his shadow. It scares him. It’s winter. I believe in all of it.’’

Today marks only the second time in the Super Bowl’s 54-year history that the big game has fallen on Groundhog Day. Morley, however, is more excited about hosting her annual Groundhog Party at her downtown apartment than any Super Bowl party. Every year, she invites a peer group of groundhog aficionados to raise a toast to Gen. Beauregard Lee, Georgia’s resident groundhog.

Her friend, Brad Berg, and his wife, Katie, will be among those on the guest list. Brad said Morley is “the only person I’ve ever known to host a groundhog party.’’

“It’s a very unique community of people who like to get together and celebrate something quirky,’’ Brad said. “I guess I’m kind of quirky in my own ways, that being one of them.’’

Brad, 30, is a real estate agent with the Fickling & Company. Morley, 29, works in the Learning Support Center at Stratford Academy.

Early Sunday morning, she will make the 45-minute drive to Dauset Trails Nature Center, near Jackson, to see if Beau emerges from his mansion and casts a shadow across the cold ground. Last year, she was among those in attendance, including two men dressed as groundhogs from head to toe.

“He (Beau) was so cute when he came out,’’ she said.

He stepped into the sunshine and saw his shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter. The diehards took it at face value, since Beau has been declared “Georgia’s Official Weather Prognosticator.” He has a 94 percent accuracy rate, which is a higher average than his rival, Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil, the rock star of groundhogs.

Morley has a history with Beau that dates back to when she was in kindergarten. Her family is from Jones County but lived in Atlanta for 15 years before moving back to the Macon area when Morley was 9. They spent eight years in Lithonia, where their home was near the Yellow River Game Ranch and its celebrity groundhog, Beau.

“I remember in preschool taking field trips there,’’ she said. “I loved his white house, his plantation, and that he had a red door.’’

She would go with her brother, Andrew. Yellow River had a nice playground, and she fell in love with the animals, especially Beau.

“I couldn’t say his name because I had quite the speech impediment, but my brother and I loved Gen. Beauregard Lee. And the love affair grew exponentially.’’

A part of Beau always has stayed with her, and it began to show its full force six years ago when she began teaching at her alma mater, Stratford, where she also is assistant girls soccer coach.

“I always loved it in college, but no one ever celebrated it,’’ she said. “When I got here, I made a huge deal out of it to let people know how much I loved it. I don’t think I had ever vocalized it before.’’

Morley uses groundhog lore as teaching moments with many of her students. Some of her co-workers even joined in with a groundhog-themed faculty breakfast in the teacher’s lounge in February.

She was delighted when her favorite groundhog was moved from Yellow River to Dauset Trails in December 2017. It was right up the road, which meant she could visit him more often.

Morley has a collection of groundhog T-shirts, a stuffed animal groundhog, stickers, bookmarks, a pen and a refrigerator magnet. She once bought temporary tattoos for her groundhog’s party. She thought she had ordered 75 and mistakenly ended up with more than 700.

“She now has a lifetime supply,’’ Brad said.

You never can have too many groundhogs.

Ed Grisamore teaches journalism at Stratford Academy in Macon. His column appears on Sundays in The Telegraph. Contact him at edgrisamore@gmail.com.