Thursday, January 31, 2008 — Weather forecasts are quite a tricky thing to predict. Even meteorologists get it wrong sometimes.

Millsberry enlisted the help of an animal friend who has been known to be an expert on the subject with an official Groundhog Day ceremony held by Mayor Trumble at Town Hall.

The tradition holds that when the groundhog comes out of its hole, if it sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If it doesn't see its shadow then winter will soon end as the warming thaw of spring is ushered in.

Groundhog Day has been a time-honored tradition for years now in predicting the seasonal length of winter in spite of skepticism from the scientific community.

"There's nothing really scientific about it", claimed Mr. Fort while respectfully abstaining from the ceremony.

"It's all up to chance. I see no difference between the groundhog and just taking a blind guess."

When asked about the scientific findings of the Groundhog Day ceremony Mayor Trumble replied, "Well, actually it's shown that the groundhog is accurate 75% to 90% of the time. I try not to question the mysteries behind the Groundhog Day tradition. I'm not sure anyone could really understand how it works. I usually just try to stay optimistic and hope that we'll be seeing some warmer weather soon."

As a result of the overcast weather, the Groundhog was unable to see his shadow prompting an immediate celebration from the heavily bundled up crowd.

"They're celebrating now, but if it happens to start snowing again, it shouldn't come as a surprise", commented Mr. Fort after hearing of the day's news.

Regardless of the controversy surrounding the tradition, Dexter the Groundhog was certainly enjoying the all of the attention. After coming out of his hole and not seeing his shadow, he did a little celebration dance that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

"It's been an exciting day, and I think everyone is really happy about the thought of warmer weather. I think I'm not just speaking for myself when I say that I'm definitely looking forward to spring", said Mayor Trumble after the day's festivities.

No matter how much scientific weight the Groundhog Day tradition holds, it's been a day everyone is sure to remember.