A Place in Florida - Let's Cheer the Lowly Possum

There's a put in place Florida that built a 12-foot-high monument during town to exalt the lowly possum. Now, why would anyone might like to do that?
Well, to start, heroes are difficult to find in this invest Florida - the Panhandle capital of scotland- Wausau, home of under 500 persons in the middle of Washington County about 10 miles south of Chipley.
Why not the possum, an unlikely hero to say the least? Nobody else puts the possum on the pedestal. Why not Wausau?
Secondly, back in 1982, Wausau got tired of being left out with the Florida lists of fun, fairs and festivals. Every devote Florida requires a festival. And not one place in Florida carries a Possum Festival. Why not Wausau?
If you have never been to Washington County, you probably will think I'm causeing this to be up. If you have visited Washington County, you'll understand - and know this is the true story.
Wausau, it proved, had some pretty powerful possum politicians in early '80s. Here are a pair of things they accomplished:
They persuaded the Florida Legislature to proclaim the initial Saturday in August as Possum Day in Florida.  click for more info  led to the building of the monument along State Highway 77 in Wausau.
They even got the United States Congress in promoting the possum. Congress joined the fun by giving the funds for Wausau's Possum Palace so Wausau could have a spot to keep its annual Fun Day and Possum Festival. Featuring a queen contest and possum auction, among other things, the festival attracts many people annually, plus they love it.
Time out for a few educating of Northerners here. The South's possum is the same lowly animal you call opossum, (Why use seven letters when six will perform?) It's a smallish marsupial that lives in trees and shows its ugly body only at night. That's why, when you're inside the right put in place Florida, you can hear possum hunters' dogs baying and barking. Treed by dogs, the possum 'freezes', therefore it is not difficult to hook (or shoot) one.
An inscription about the monument during Wausau cites the possum's role in providing 'both fur and food' during the entire centuries. It goes onto say: 'Their presence here has provided a resource of nutritious and flavorful food in normal times and it has been a crucial assist to human survival when in distress and critical need.'
Laugh if you want. The people of Wausau will laugh together with you - while downing baked possum and sweet potatoes.