Sir
Walter Wally: Museum’s 7th annual Groundhog Day
January 28, 2004
For Immediate Release
For calendar & event editors; Images available.
Contact: Steve Popson (919) 733-7450,
ext. 379
RALEIGH—Are we in for six more weeks of cold, blustery winds and icy precipitation? Or are warm temperatures and budding forsythia bushes right around the corner? Find out what our groundhog expert thinks at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ seventh annual Groundhog Day on Monday, Feb. 2, 2003, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sir Walter Wally, the Museum’s groundhog, will make his weather prediction during the official shadow ceremony beginning at noon. Museum educator John Connors, outfitted in top hat and tails, will assist Wally with the forecast.
“So far, most of Wally’s predictions have been accurate, which is not the case with his more famous cousin in Pennsylvania,” said Bob Flook, Museum coordinator of educational events. In addition to finding out what’s in our meteorological future, Museum visitors can enjoy learning about groundhog lore, and how animals deal with winter weather at special Groundhog Day programs throughout the Museum.
Schools across North Carolina also will participate in the Museum’s annual Groundhog Day celebration. For the week beginning January 26, classrooms will observe and record weather conditions each day with the help of a downloadable Museum kit containing educational activities related to winter weather and animals, as well as information and folklore about groundhogs.
The classes will report the weeks’ weather conditions to the Museum, where members of the State Climate Office will record their observations on a statewide Weather Watch. For six weeks after Groundhog Day, students can check the map through Museum’s Web site, www.naturalsciences.org, to see actual weather temperatures and patterns and compare them to Wally’s prediction.
One lucky participating school will win an all-expenses-paid trip to Raleigh for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Museum.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, in downtown Raleigh, documents and interprets the natural history of the state of North Carolina through exhibits, research, collections, publications, and educational programming. Hours: Mon.-Sat., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sun., noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Visit the Museum on the web at www.naturalsciences.org. The Museum is an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, William G. Ross Jr., Secretary.
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