Groundhog Day will truly be different in 2022 in Wiarton.
In a release, the Town of South Bruce Peninsula has set out its plans for the event.
One big difference is, spectators will not be watching an albino groundhog make its prognostication next February.
A statement from the Town says, “Our albino prognosticator sadly passed away leaving his big brown understudy in charge of making the 2022 prediction.”
Mayor Janice Jackson says, Willie died of a tooth abscess prior to the last Prediction Morning, noting in an email, “Albino groundhogs are rare and between not having a replacement, COVID banning gatherings at that time, and Willie’s 65th Anniversary, we felt it was a great opportunity to pay tribute to the history of Wiarton Willie, so last year we shot a cute video.”
In 2021, Wiarton Willie did not make an appearance on Groundhog Day, instead, the video included Jackson tossing a white fur hat into the snow to pay homage to the local event’s creator Mac McKenzie in 1956, who back then, tossed a hat in the snow and called it a groundhog.
Jackson adds, “We have been searching for an albino ever since, but when the end of the summer was approaching and groundhogs would soon be hibernating, our window of opportunity was quickly closing so we adopted a brown groundhog.”
She says the Town will still search for an albino groundhog, but in the meantime, the current Willie is in the understudy home attached to the Ross Whicher Centre in Wiarton (library).
“We are just getting to know him however he’s an insatiable eater, about 4 years old and very curious,” says Jackson.
The February 2nd, 2022 event is also set to be a live, in-person event where people can gather to see if Wiarton Willie will predict six more weeks of winter or an early spring.
The 2022 festival events will be held on Saturday, February 5th.