SUN PRAIRIE, WI – At sunrise this morning, Jimmy the Groundhog whispered his prognostication to Mayor Jon Freund. While tradition holds that only the mayor can translate Jimmy’s prediction and that a clear sky generally means Jimmy sees his shadow and that winter will go on for six more weeks, the mayor’s translation this morning was clearly for an Early Spring. The break with tradition is unusual, but not unprecedented.
Director of Economic Development Neil Stechschulte stated:
“The translation by the mayor is a critical part of the prognostication process. We count on Jimmy to actually predict the weather … not just have an automated response based on current weather conditions like other groundhogs across the country. After a back and forth conversation with Jimmy this morning, the mayor clearly confirmed Jimmy’s call for winter ending early. Jimmy the Groundhog was very adamant in his prognostication this year, as he leaned into the mayor’s ear to make sure the mayor heard him correctly. Mayor Freund stands by his translation, and we continue to put our faith in Jimmy the Groundhog.”
The city would like to thank all the volunteers, the Sun Prairie Business Improvement District, the Sun Prairie Volunteer Fire Department, the Sun Prairie Police Department Color Guard and to Jimmy’s caretakers Jerry and Maria Hahn for helping us continue this great Sun Prairie tradition. We look forward to warmer Wisconsin weather coming soon.
