Shocking discoveries, Wood Milk & a famous groundhog: Stories that surprised us this year

Delaware is rarely short on news of the weird.

After all, we bond over a meat product reviled by many, decorate a roadside weed for Christmas, and have a baseball mascot inspired by a stalk of celery.

But you knew all that already.

No matter how well we think we know the First State and its people, each year there are the stories that come out of nowhere to surprise us.

Here are some of the weirdest and most surprising stories of 2023:

Rare Wyeth found in the thrift shop

It's an avid thrifter's fantasy.

A woman in a New Hampshire thrift shop on the hunt for picture frames discovered a heavy, dusty old picture in a pile of mismatched frames.

"The painting was compelling and tense,'' writes Matthew Korfhage. "An older woman in a chair, delivering hard stares to a young woman. And the young woman holding her ground.''

The woman paid $4, took it home and hung it on her wall. Eventually, she moved it to her closet.

In September, that painting was auctioned off for $191,000, making international art news as it turned out to be a long-lost N.C. Wyeth painting called "Ramona.''

Ketchup claw machine on Rehoboth Boardwalk

Matt Weiner is general manager of the three family-owned Zelky's Beach Arcades. One arcade on the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk is only a few steps away from the legendary Thrasher's french fries stand, a favorite stop for visitors that does not serve ketchup. Instead, fries are served with salt and apple cider vinegar, as they always have been.

The result is a lot of ketchup-loving fries fans asking for or even stealing ketchup from other nearby businesses.

This spring, Weiner "came up with a creative, buzz-worthy, and slightly profitable way to possibly halt ketchup begging and pilfering,'' reports Patricia Talorico

On Memorial Day weekend, a claw-style arcade game usually filled with toy rubber ducks was filled with single-serve packets of Heinz ketchup to help address the ketchup cravings of boardwalk fry nibblers — and inspire more than a few smiles.

Chunk, the celebrity groundhog

There's nothing like social media to catapult a furry creature to celeb status.

When Middletown's Jeff Permar first spotted Chunk the Groundhog in his backyard, he saw red, writes Ryan Cormier.

"Once Permar caught the garden-eating woodchuck on a motion sensor camera, he showed the footage to his friend Rick Arzt, lead singer of the Dewey Beach-based rock band Love Seed Mama Jump," Cormier reports.

"Arzt saw a furry star.''

While he may have potential to wreak havoc in the garden and inspire some headaches for the farmer, Chunk has also gone viral as a rising star on Instagram, YouTube, X and TikTok.

Aubrey Plaza promotes Wood Milk

For an A-list star who seems to carry a magic wand as she makes bold career moves, it did seem like an odd choice.

As more and more people ditch dairy in favor of plant-based milk and other products, Delaware native Aubrey Plaza became a campaign spokesperson for a fake product called Wood Milk meant to poke fun at substances that don't come from mammals being labeled as "milk.''

While the U.S. Department of Agriculture-approved video ads that featured Plaza in lumberjack mode were funny, not everyone was laughing. Plaza faced some pushback from vegans and climate change activists, as well as a complaint to the USDA Office of Inspector General by the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

According to the complaint, MilkPEP campaign launched a "viral advertising campaign disparaging plant-based milks, in violation of laws forbidding federal agricultural promotions from depicting products in a negative light."

As Andre Lamar wrote at the time, the viral ad definitely left a sour taste in some people's mouths.

Delaware attic held secret to historic museum burglary spree — and a million-dollar gun

Plenty of Delaware attics harbor a secret or two. But not quite like this one ...

As Matthew Korfhage reports, one Newark attic held the secret to a historic museum burglary spree — and a million-dollar gun.

A man named Michael Kintner Corbett kept priceless American history locked away from the world in a mouse-infested crawl space.

"On May 24, 2017, FBI agents led by art crimes Special Agent Jake Archer followed a search warrant into the hidden upper room of Corbett’s Newark residence and to a safe tucked in the basement,'' Korfhage writes. "In the process, the agents broke open a 50-year mystery spanning six states, 16 museums and dozens of historic firearms whose provenance spans the entire history of America — a rash of museum burglaries Archer calls 'one of the largest of its kind that we’re aware of.'

Delaware community events offer weed in exchange for volunteering

You might expect, if you signed up for a few hours of volunteering, that you could come home with a free T-shirt or water bottle as a thank you. But a joint?

"When it came time to present the pot, grant the ganja or bestow the bud ― however you want to say it ― the organizers of Delaware's first 'Joints for Junk' decided to hand out the promised pre-rolls at the start of the two-hour trash clean up in Millsboro this fall,'' writes Ryan Cormier.

While the Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network has been organizing community events ever since its founding in 2013, this was the first time it was doing one since marijuana was legalized in Delaware eight months ago, he reports.

"So the nonprofit advocacy group brainstormed a new way to attract volunteers: give out grass. And they didn't even wait until the volunteers put in the work first.''

Turns out, everyone stuck around and the event was a success, with more likely in the future.

Fighting sexual assault allegations, Jimmie Allen announces comedy tour

You might expect an award-winning country star defending against multiple sexual assault allegations to go underground, or at least keep a low profile.

What many didn't see coming is the country artist headlining his own comedy show.

As Andre Lamar reported earlier this year, Allen set out to "tackle an entirely new corner of the entertainment industry by launching a comedy tour this fall titled ''I Said What I Said.' ''

The Milton Theatre shared photos on Facebook on Aug. 25 that featured Allen on stage doing a surprise comedy show at the venue. Allen was spotted wearing a hoodie at the show that read "CANCEL Cancel Culture," Lamar reports.

Allen's comedy stint came after two women filed lawsuits against him in May and June, respectively, for sexual assault. The second lawsuit resulted in him getting dropped from his record label BRB Music Group.

The Milton native filed countersuits in July in Tennessee against the women making the charges, according to USA TODAY, Billboard and People.

No criminal charges have been filed against the country star, who has been releasing new material via social media.

Swiftonomics at the University of Delaware

It is hardly surprising that anyone tasked with marketing something would daydream about attaching the name Taylor Swift to it in 2023.

But what we didn't see coming was an economics class at the University of Delaware inspired by the pop icon's phenomenal success.

As Kelly Powers reports, Swift was ubiquitous this year.

"The popstar was selected as Time magazine’s Person of the Year. Her record-breaking tour has grossed more than $1 billion, per AP, while she remains the top-played artist globally on Spotify. Oh, and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives also just recognized 2023 as the 'Taylor Swift Era' in her home state, via resolution, on her birthday,'' Powers writes.

Seeing an opportunity, "Delaware's largest university hopes to spur 'the future generation's interest in economics' with a voluntary course centering on the singer's economic impact. Her father is a Blue Hen, after all. Kathryn Bender, an assistant professor of economics, is leading the Swift-themed data visualization workshop series for undergraduate students called "Data Enchanted: Transforming Numbers Into Knowledge."

More unusual news out of Delaware

Rites of passage: 7 University of Delaware traditions every student must try before graduating

No napping: Delaware Day spotlights the state's 'Florida man' history & goofy laws

Oh, Christmas Weed: Claymont Christmas Weed, a 30-year Delaware tradition, is celebrated at Saturday parade

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Swiftonomics, Chunk the Groundhog: 8 surprising 2023 Delaware stories