PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. — Groundhog Day is two days away and those in Jefferson County have been busy preparing.

Workers at Shop 'n Save in Punxsutawney have been baking groundhog cookies since the beginning of the year.

"It's been hard to keep up and keep the table full because we sell so many of them," said Bakery Manager Karen Love. "Once we start making groundhog cookies, that's what is selling."

Love said for the last 20 years, the store has been making cookies as part of the town's celebration.

"Every year we just keep getting more and more orders," Love said. "The cookies go all over the state, out of state and people even call and order them early so they can ship them to their friends and relatives."

Bakers make several different types of cookies including sugar, iced and ginger.

Love said other departments in the store help to keep up with the demand.

"We had 400 pounds of cake flour come in last week, pastry flour and big 50 pound containers of shortening," Love said.

Love said in 2018, Shop 'n Save made 22,000 cookies.

"It was so busy last year and Groundhog Day was on a Friday," Love said. "People would stand at the bakery and wait for us to get the cookies put in containers because they were not going home without having groundhog cookies."

Despite the amount of work, the bakers said they love making guests feel welcome when they come to Punxsutawney.

Shop 'n Save will have large groundhog cookies for kids to decorate Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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