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Wiarton Willie is a famous Canadian groundhog who lives in the community of Wiarton in Bruce County, Ontario. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The groundhog ( Marmota monax) also known as the woodchuck land beaver or whistlepig, is a Rodent of the family Sciuridae In biological terms a community is a group of interacting Organisms sharing an environment. Wiarton is a community in Bruce County Ontario, at the western end of Colpoys Bay, an inlet off Georgian Bay, on the Bruce Peninsula. Bruce County is a County in western Ontario, Canada, and includes the Bruce Peninsula. Every February 2, on Groundhog Day, Willie takes part in the local Wiarton Willie Festival. Events 962 - Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated in United States and Canada on February 2. His role is to predict whether there will be an early spring. Spring is one of the four Temperate Seasons Spring marks the transition from Winter into Summer. Although the original Wiarton Willie died in 1999, the Wiarton groundhog day celebrations continue each year with the original Willie's successors, referred to as "Wee Willie. "[1]

Groundhog Day, featuring Wiarton Willie, is a popular annual festival in Wiarton and is similar to events in other locations in North America. A midwinter celebration involving an animal with predictive powers was an element of Celtic culture. Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts [2] The link between weather prediction and the day is said to have been inspired by an old Scottish couplet: "If Candlemas Day is bright and clear/ There'll be two winters in the year. Scottish literature is Literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. The Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus, and falls on or around 2 February. "[3]

Contents

History

The story of Wiarton Willie dates back to 1956. A Wiarton resident named Mac McKenzie wanted to showcase his childhood home to his many friends, so he sent out invitations for a "Groundhog Day" gathering. One of these invitations fell into the hands of a Toronto Star reporter. The Toronto Star is Canada 's highest-circulation newspaper though its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario. The reporter travelled to Wiarton looking for the Groundhog Day event. None of the townspeople knew about a festival, but one suggested he check at the Arlington Hotel, the local watering hole. There the reporter found McKenzie and his friends partying and was invited to join them. The next day, the reporter lamented to McKenzie that he needed some kind of story to take back to justify his expenses. So McKenzie grabbed his wife's fur hat, which had a large button on the front, went out to the parking lot, dug a burrow in the snow and pronounced a prognostication (which no one remembers). The picture of Mac and the hat ran in the February 3, 1956 edition of the Toronto Star. A year later, about 50 people arrived for the festival. Half were reporters from various media, including the CBC and Canadian Press. The Canadian Press (often abbreviated as CP) is Canada 's national News agency established in 1917 as a vehicle to permit Canadian newspapers of the day Seizing on the opportunity, McKenzie invented a festival that has been added to over the years. [4]

Wiarton Willie himself is a more recent addition to the festivities. In the early years, prognostication was provided by the "mythical" trio of groundhogs Grundoon, Muldoon and Sand Dune. Willie appeared on the scene in the 1980s. Wiarton Willie's predictive powers are attributed (by his followers) to his situation on the 45th parallel, exactly halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. The equator (sometimes referred to colloquially as "the Line") is the intersection of the Earth 's surface with the plane perpendicular to the The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is subject to the caveats explained below defined as the point in the northern He is claimed locally to be accurate in his prognostications around 90 per cent of the time, although scientific studies show groundhog predictions to have a success rate of more like 37 per cent. [3]

Death and ensuing scandal

The original Wiarton Willie lived to the advanced age of 22, and was found dead only two days before Groundhog Day in 1999. The organizers were unable to find a replacement, and instead marked Groundhog Day by revealing "Willie" in a coffin. He had been dressed in a tuxedo, had coins over his eyes, and a carrot between his paws. A scandal ensued when it transpired that the real Willie had in fact decomposed, and the body in the coffin was that of an older, stuffed groundhog. The Associated Press was obliged to issue a retraction on its wires. [5]

Wee Willie

The new Wiarton Willie is also known as "Wee Willie," and is another albino groundhog. There have actually been two Wee Willies—Wee Willie and Wee Willie 2. The latter was reported as deceased on July 11, 2006 after fighting an infection for the previous month. Events 911 - Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

The Groundhog Day show

Groundhog Day in Wiarton is a major celebration, with dances, parades, ice hockey tournaments, curling bonspiels, pancake breakfasts, darts and snooker tournaments, sleigh rides, a Monte Carlo Night and a fish fry. Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic A parade (also called march or marchpast) is a procession of people usually organized along a street often in Costume, and often accompanied by Fire Ice hockey, often referred to simply as hockey, is a team Sport played on Ice. Curling is a team Sport with similarities to Bowls and Shuffle board, played by two teams of four players each on a rectangular sheet of carefully prepared Pancakes are a type of Flatbread prepared from a sweet batter that is cooked on a hot Griddle or in a Frying pan. Darts refers to a variety of related games in which darts are thrown at a circular target (dartboard hung on a wall Snooker is a Cue sport that is played on a large Baize -covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long A sled, sledge or sleigh is a Vehicle with runners for sliding instead of wheels for rolling A casino is in the modern sense of the word a facility that houses and accommodates certain types of Gambling activities A fish fry is a meal usually consisting of battered and Fried fish, French fries, Coleslaw, Hushpuppies, lemon slices Tartar [6] Around 10,000 people are said to attend. It has been called "one the most popular events in Ontario" and has twice been named "the World's Greatest Event" by Seattle's Festivals. com. [2][7]

Other Groundhog Day stars

Other towns throughout North America are known to have winter-predicting groundhogs. The most famous is Punxsutawney Phil of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania (immortalized in the movie Groundhog Day). Punxsutawney Phil, the "seer of seers and prognosticator of prognosticators" is a Groundhog resident of Punxsutawney Pennsylvania, USA Groundhog Day is a 1993 Comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. There is also "Brandon Bob" of Brandon, Manitoba, "Staten Island Chuck" in New York, "Balzac Billy" in Alberta, "General Beauregard Lee" in Lilburn, Georgia, "Shubenacadie Sam" in Nova Scotia, and "Gary the Groundhog" in Kleinburg, Ontario, among many others. Staten Island Chuck is a Groundhog who resides in the Staten Island Zoo in Staten Island New York in the United States. General Beauregard Lee is a groundhog that resides at the Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn Georgia just outside of Atlanta.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "He Cast No Shadow". Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated in United States and Canada on February 2. southbrucepeninsula. com. Retrieved on: November 4, 2007. Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  2. ^ a b Eight Wiccan/Neopagan Sabbats: Imbolc: Jan-31 to Feb-02. Religious Tolerance. org. Retrieved on: November 4, 2007. Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  3. ^ a b CBC News (February 2, 2007) "What Wiarton Willie sees." CBC News In Depth: Groundhog Day. Retrieved on: November 3, 2007. Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  4. ^ "How the Festival Started." southbrucepeninsula. com. Retrieved on: November 3, 2007. Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  5. ^ Pollenatrix (May 27, 2004) "Groundhog Tales." Retrieved on: November 3, 2007. Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  6. ^ Wiarton Willie Festival Events. southbrucepeninsula. com. Retrieved on: November 3, 2007. Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  7. ^ Jim Fox (February 2, 2007) "Waking Wiarton Willie." Canoe. ca. Retrieved on: November 4, 2007. Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

External links

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