It was a ceremony fit for a groundhog believed to possess the power to predict the weather.
On Saturday, dozens of people -- some who travelled hours -- descended on Wiarton, Ont. to say goodbye to Wiarton Willie, the town’s famous Groundhog Day prognosticator.
The event featured a marching band with bagpipes and a town crier leading the procession. The famous rodent’s remains were kept on display in an urn.
Willie was a well-known figure in Wiarton. He has a street named after him, his name appears on the town sign and there’s even a Wiarton Willie statue in the community’s Bluewater Park.
“We’re just super proud of Wiarton Willie and what he’s done for our town,” Janice Jackson, the mayor of the amalgamated area of South Bruce Peninsula, told CTV Barrie.
Willie died on Sept. 20 at the age of 13. Groundhogs typically only live to be four to nine-years-old in the wild.
Wiarton Willie’s death closely follows that of Mac McKenzie, the human who founded the Wiarton Willie Festival in 1956. McKenzie died on Aug. 10 at the age of 90.
“Willie is an important part of the community and it’s only fitting that we pay proper tribute to him,” one memorial service attendee told CTV Barrie.
Folklore dictates that if a groundhog sees its shadow on Groundhog Day, Feb. 2, the region will experience six more weeks of winter. Not seeing a shadow is supposed to herald an early spring.
An albino groundhog from Oro-Medonte, roughly 120 kilometres east of Wiarton, has already been selected as the fourth critter to fill Wiarton Willie’s job. The town is now accepting applicants to be the new groundhog’s understudy.
This year, Willie predicted the an early spring, but frigid temperatures and falling snow saw winter’s icy grip extend well into March in southwestern Ontario.
Several other towns in North America have weather-predicting groundhogs as well. Shubenacadie, N.S. has Shubenacadie Sam, while Punxsutawney, Penn. boasts a famous groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil.
With a report from CTV Barrie’s Rob Cooper
