N.B. holds contest to find name for groundhog

FREDERICTON - There's Wiarton Willie and Shubenacadie Sam and now New Brunswick is hoping to get in on the weather predicting groundhog act.

Officials with the meteorological centre at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown are behind the effort to enrol a special recruit to help with weather forecasts.

They say the new arrival is no ordinary soldier at 60 centimetres in height and weighing four kilograms.

Young New Brunswickers, from ages five to 18, are being invited to name the provincial groundhog in a contest organized by the New Brunswick Provincial Capital Commission and CFB Gagetown.

The contest closes on Jan. 27.

The public will be invited to a name-revealing ceremony Feb. 2, Groundhog Day, to meet the province's newest prognosticator.

• 

  South Bruce Peninsula mayor Gwenn Gilbert puts her hear to Wiarton Willie in Wiarton, Ont., on Tuesday Feb. 2, 2010. The groundhog saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter, agreeing with his furry counterparts. (Chris Young / THE CANADIAN PRESS)