As you know, Groundhog Day is a major day on the calendar. It is similar to New Year or September where you find a day that is both the end and the beginning of the annual cycle. It is also at the end of a long period without significant holidays which begins at the end of Halloween on 1/November. Click here for the holiday lineup

More Nonsense Than Usual

When the sun comes up in your location on February 2, you have reached the mid point of the winter. There are usually a few wacky alternative proposals to waking a groundhog for a prediction on duration of winter but this year seems especially nutty. The old notion of an Artificial Intelligence Groundhog reared up this year. Then an idea was floated that a gold coin be tossed on February 2, this is indicative of a current trend to publicly repudiate skill and experience in favour of flashy baselessness. Then Star and April, attended a celebration in West Pole, Texas, where an armadillo predicted an early Spring (more on this later). Then, in a detailed article in the Toronto Star, there was a suggestion that racoons should be considered for prognosticating on February 2; there was some mumbo jumbo about how the ability to hear or not hear their mating procedure on February 2 was somehow indicative of the status of the coming Spring. Unfortunately, this is but a small sample of the sort of things are circulating in the general world, we must maintain perspective and resist such tomfoolery.

My Mistake

In 2020 Wiarton Willie sadly passed away at a young age from a tooth abscess. Likely informed by pandemic restrictions, the powers that be (were?) embarked on a questionable cover up strategy which was pursued, incredibly, after a non-appearance by Wiarton Willie on GHD 2021. GHD 2022 was a bit farcical, an albino groundhog was unobtainable, a brown groundhog was pressed into service (he did his best but clearly knew that he was a second choice). Last year, I believed that Wiarton Willie’s brown fur was lightened and I was wrong; in fact, an albino Wiarton Willie was found in time for GHD 2023, this year was his second appearance.

Star and April

Star and April travel to a different Groundhog Day festival every year, we met when they visited Wiarton many years ago and I enjoy their entertaining reports on their blog. This year they visited West Pole, Texas for the Bee Cave Bob festival. Read their final post here, but I encourage you to read the full story, yes, Bee Cave Bob is an armadillo, but truly, it’s the thought that counts.

Mumtaz Stayed Home This Year

Yes friends, I went solo to a GHD festival for the first time. Mumtaz wasn’t feeling well and it is quite strenuous.

Guest Groundhog

As we are equidistant from Punxsutawney and Wiarton, for the last few years, I have nominated a guest groundhog to break the impasse if they don’t agree. Eventhough this year Willie and Phil agreed, I am officially changing the guest groundhog procedure; Wiarton Willie’s prediction will be the definitive prediction from now on. This was a tough decision and it is not nationalistically based, I decided that Wiarton’s special location on the 45th parallel (half way between the Equator and the North Pole) is the critical factor.

Winter?

We have an interesting micro climate here in St. Catharines. In a typical winter some 35 minutes to the south, you can expect multiple paralyzing snow events, here, we can expect to shovel snow 2-4 times. That said, this has been a remarkable essentially snowless winter. Even more remarkable is that there is pretty much no snow on the ground between here and Wiarton.

Drive to Wiarton

It takes about 3 and half hours to get to Wiarton from St. Catherines, the trip usually begins at 2am which allows for bad weather along the way and a stop. Usually, we are first on the scene in Wiarton where the show starts at 7am and the reveal happens at 8:07am sharp.

This year I was under way on time and the drive was very pleasant indeed. I was surprised to drive through a snow squall about 60kms south of Owen Sound.

In 2018 we decided to split the Owen Sound observances into a fuel stop at the venerable Mac’s Milk (now Circle K) and relaxing at Tim Hortons. I checked in advance and found a Tim Hortons that was open over night; alas, only for drive through which was not as advertised. I proceeded to a traditional stop at the Mac’s Milk which was; alas, less pleasant than usual, lingering was not encouraged.

The splendid weather and the short traditional stop in Owen Sound led to my arriving at the Wiarton arena before 6am, first audience member on the scene as usual which was lucky as there was no parking lot this year so getting there early is essential.

The Show

From 6am to the beginning of the show, I did manage to chat with a number participants both local and visitors which was pleasant. I felt that the control booth which was set up directly in front of the stage was unfortunate, CTV was on hand this year along with local radio.

Fireworks started at 7am and they were very good. This was followed by a grade 3-5 choir from a nearby public school. They sang O Canada and another tune and they were adorable. There was an attempt to engage the entire audience in aerobics to keep us warm and that was about it. The hosts didn’t have much to work with and their frenetic attempts to keep things interesting were mostly futile. For the first time, all members of the shadow cabinet delivered speeches along with an executive of the principle sponsor.

The Reveal

The pipe band escorted Willie to the front (this year without OPP escort).

The mayor of South Bruce is the chairperson of the shadow cabinet and is uniquely capable of communicating with Wiarton Willie. Last year there was a new mayor, he resigned in August (don’t ask) so the mayor was more of a rookie than Wiarton Willie this year. I think that he did an excellent job; there was a bit of a blip as it looked like he was going to skip the step of conferring with the rest of the shadow cabinet but he recovered well and I think he will support Willie very well in the future.

I was very impressed with Wiarton Willie, he displayed a level of composure that more experienced Groundhogs would be happy to display and he is quite photogenic as well.

As I was participating solo there are only a couple of photos. As always the photos are headlined by Mumtaz’s Mandatory Misery Shot™ (simulated this year):

And here is the sacred Owen Sound Mac’s Milk (now Circle K)

And here is my short video of the reveal

But it is always better to go with the broadcast media, CTV was on hand in Wiarton, sorry for the ads.

And here are the other photos, the stage at 6am, Mumtaz after the Mandatory Misery Shot™ and my video of the arrival of the Shadow Cabinet.

It was great to be back in Wiarton after 6 years and kudos to the volunteers. Next year, Groundhog Day is on a Sunday and we are currently resolved to make an off year trip to Wiarton, who knows who will be with us.