Wiarton mayor calls for an early spring

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Every other year Willie would be live, onstage with his prediction shortly after sunrise with hundreds watching. Not possible with COVID-19 this year. The town’s annual winter festival was cancelled given public health restrictions against people gathering.

Willie would whisper words into the ear of the Mayor of the Land of Marmot, Jackson, who would translate from his native tongue, groundhogs. According to custom, if Willie doesn’t see his shadow, spring’s coming early. If he does, there’ll be six more weeks of winter (at least).

But Willie’s furry face didn’t appear in the video either.

The video showed a rush to look for the little guy, and in the end, a fur cap was plucked off a woman’s head and tossed into the snow, just the way the festival began in 1956. “It’s an early spring!” Jackson declared.

Among the politicians sending recorded greetings was Ontario Premier Doug Ford who said “Whether or not Willie sees his shadow, there are brighter days ahead.”

There were also predictions by Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam, who joined Willie in predicting an early spring and by Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil, who warned of six more weeks of winter.

We’ve all been like Willie, Sam and Phil for the past year, hunkered in our burrows, waiting to see some light.

The routine to avoid the pandemic virus has felt like endless reruns of Groundhog Day, the movie about a groaning Bill Murray playing the weatherman who must ceaselessly relive prognostication day.