It is another pandemic Groundhog Day and despite a November post on the topic, let’s recap.

Recap

Groundhog Day 2021 in Wiarton was odd and not just because pandemic restrictions prohibited an in person live event. Live streaming was announced but rather poorly executed; and, unbelievably, Wiarton Willie did not appear at all. We learn conclusively in November that Wiarton Willie indeed died before GHD 2022. The understudy was a brown groundhog; the delay in announcing the untimely demise of Wiarton Willie facilitated an ultimately futile attempt to find an albino groundhog replacement.

Punxsutawney

Large outdoor events are apparently unrestricted in Pennsylvania so things were back to normal; it was the largest increase in midweek attendance in the history of the event.

Star and April

We met Star and April in Wiarton some years ago, they attend a different Groundhog Day festival every year in spite of weather catastrophe or global pandemic. This year, they celebrated in the New York area, you will find their entertaining blog here.

Wiarton’s Live Stream

The marketing effort into the live stream was somewhat better this year, at least a coherent location was published in advance. The execution was disappointing however; clicking on the link early created a random redirection to another Groundhog Day related page; sounds reasonable, but you need to cancel the feed and start over when you want to see the stream from Wiarton. I did this a couple of times and ended up on the Wiarton live stream having cancelled and restarted twice

Wiarton Willie’s Rookie Outing

For the first time since returning to Canada 22 years ago, we missed a Wiarton Willie rookie outing. The presentation was … unpolished. Most of the fun elements were delegated to the town criers who certainly did their best. Wiarton Willie’s performance was lackluster, I’m sure that he will improve with practice. There was a plea to the audience to contact Wiarton City Hall with news of an albino groundhog; quite demotivating to Wiarton Willie, wouldn’t you agree.

We are looking forward to an off year visit to Wiarton in 2023 to encourage Willie in what will be a true rookie outing with a live and enthusiastic audience in attendance.

Don’t forget a once in a lifetime celebration on Tuesday February 22. It is Two’s Day, plan your celebration around the pivotal Two’s Day moment at 22 minutes past 10 in the evening.