Yes, we’ve made another trip around the sun, arriving back at Hedgehog Day, aka Groundhog Day. If you’ve been a reader for a while, you will know that Weston does not celebrate Groundhog Day per se, but rather Hedgehog Day like the good Loyalists we are. Yes, we are willing to see what Ms G, the least creatively-named creature ever, has to say at 10 am but know in our heart of hearts that our hedgehog Quilly would override any woodchuck predictions. Please note that MassAudubon, host to Ms G, has a number of fun events today for the littles–check it out if you have the time and inclination (link follows repeat story from last year):
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If you all are ardent Wes-TEN followers as well as Weston Owl subscribers, you will know that Weston brought back the British-inspired Hedgehog Day two years ago in an effort to turn back time. In case you missed that particularly inspired Wes-TEN, you can catch a recording here. You will learn a lot about hedgehogs from former Animal Control officer Rachel Hoffman–like baby hedgehogs are called “hoglets” which is pretty cute, no?
Quilly, or Sir Quilliam as he is officially known, was declared Weston’s official hedgehog and presented with the world’s tiniest proclamation by Weston Town Manager Leon Gaumond. You can’t actually make this stuff up–unless you are the Wes-TEN and then of course you can.
Did you know that Hedgehog Day started during the Holy Roman Empire? And that the reason that the US has Groundhog Day and not Hedgehog Day is that there were no hedgehogs native to this country? Well, we should say Groundhog Day is celebrated by the entire US except for Weston, which let’s face it, has always been fairly loyalist (we see you Golden Ball Tavern, and your tea).
In 2020, Quilly did see his shadow which meant two more years of town center construction (which was. a correct prediction0. In 2021, in a remote filming, Quilly did not (also correct).
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One of the things that most people don’t know about hedgehogs is that they live only a few years. Rescued as an adult, Sir Quilliam passed away of old age in November 2021.
In Quilly’s absence, the town of Weston will rely on Lincoln’s Ms. G, an American groundhog, who will see her shadow or not on Facebook live at 10 am. Count on Lincoln to keep up the patriot past. We, in Weston, hope to one day have another official groundhog. Until then, we salute you, Sir Quilliam.
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