Sir Walter Wally sees his shadow at Raleigh NC annual ceremony

The Groundhog Day Experience:  Many of the  attendees arrived at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences at about 10 am, allowing themselves plenty of time to “get in the mood” by learning about groundhogs and the origins of Groundhog Day, seeing Sir Walter Wally in person, hearing a story about Animals in Winter, learning the Signs of Spring, hearing about animals that make their own natural anti-freeze, competing in a stuffed groundhog toy toss, and petting live snakes who also hibernate in winter.  About 11:30 people started taking their seats around the stage outside the Museum, securing a good view of the podium in order to be ready for the main event.  John Conners, who works for the Museum and who was dressed in a coat with tails and top hat especially for the occasion,  and Dee Freeman, the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources,  started getting ready to perform their duties on the stage.  Soon you could hear chants of Wal-ly, Wal-ly . . . from the excited crowd which was predominately made up of children under the age of twelve.  Amelia Cowans, who also works for the Museum, led everyone in a song about the groundhog that was written Lou Baird, the Director of Education for the Museum when she was six years old.  Sir Walter Wally waited in the wings, securely held and petted by his handler until just the right time and then saw his shadow, thereby predicting another six weeks of winter.

Not just for kids:  While it is true that the majority of the attendees for the 2011 Groundhog Day celebration were young children, with most of them in the four to six year old age group, there were plenty of adult attendees as well, including Elizabeth Gardner, WRAL’s own weather prognosticator; Kristi M. Butler, a kindergarten teacher and writer of children’s picture books with groundhog characters, who was accompanied by her entire class who wore their very own special Groundhog Day hats; Dr. Margaret Lowman, the director of the Museum; and many others. 

Amazing facts:  Groundhog Day has its origins in Europe.  The date coincides with the ancient celebrations of Candlemas and Imbolc which mark the halfway point between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox.  It was folk lore that if the sun shone in early February, winter would last the remaining six weeks until the equinox.  Europeans in Germany used the hedgehog to predict the weather, but settlers in Pennsylvania had to find a substitute hibernating animal and chose the groundhog.  The groundhog is a marmot, also known as a woodchuck and in North Carolina also known as a whistlepig.  They typically weigh ten pounds but gain an extra thirty percent of their body weight to provide fat stores for hibernation.  Sir Walter Raleigh's accuracy rate appears to be at least fifty-five percent, which compares very favorably with Punxsatawney Phil's twenty-seven percent rate according to a chart of results on display at the Museum.

Mark your calendar for next year:  If you missed it this time, mark your calendar for Groundhog Day 2012 so that you can make it a point to go and meet Sir Walter Wally in person and experience the excitement of this remarkable celebration yourself.