Fersommling

"[1] Fersommlinge are typically attended by the Fancy Dutch, as opposed to the "Plain sects" of the Amish, Brethren, and Mennonites.

The term literally means "a congregation," not in the sense of a group of church-goers, but as a "social gathering of people."

The next Groundhog Day, which took place on February 2, 1934 in Northampton, Pennsylvania, was the first Fersommling of Grundsow Lodge Nummer Ains an Da Lechaw (Number One on the Lehigh).

For example, the Berks County Fersommling, which started in 1937, annually attracts more than 700 participants, most of whom are of Pennsylvania German ancestry.

[5][6] Since 1997, some of the texts presented at Fersommlinge are also published in the Pennsylvania German newspaper Hiwwe wie Driwwe.