{"id":74274,"date":"2024-02-05T14:04:49","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T21:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=74274"},"modified":"2024-02-05T15:21:01","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T22:21:01","slug":"balzac-billy-predicts-winter-is-sticking-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2024\/02\/05\/balzac-billy-predicts-winter-is-sticking-around\/","title":{"rendered":"Balzac Billy predicts winter is sticking around"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Groundhog Day:<\/strong> Billy gives a thumbs down to his prediction of a longer winter. (Photo by Jessyca Blakney\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A<\/span>lberta groundhog Balzac Billy dug his way out of his burrow at 8:12 a.m. He held up an ice scraper and put on ski goggles after his long-awaited stretch.<\/span><\/p>\n

M<\/span>embers of the community gathered on Feb. 2 to say good morning to Balzac Billy at the 21st annual Groundhog Day celebration held at the Blue Grass Nursery and Garden Centre.<\/p>\n

Billy\u2019s shadow beamed down on the crowd. So, according to this local groundhog, spring is not going to come early.<\/p>\n

Sorry, Alberta.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really is a mystery, and nobody knows except for Billy,” said Jennifer Cordingley, the Blue Grass Nursery marketing manager. “When they come out, what they see and what they feel, I\u2019m sure it\u2019s just all animal instinct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Free breakfast and live music started for guests at 7 a.m. and continued through until 9 a.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these people are from Airdrie and Calgary and we have lots of support,” Cordingley said. “It\u2019s a good little reunion for the Balzac community for people to come out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The celebration was hosted by Blue Grass Nursery<\/a>, CrossIron Mills Mall<\/a>, and the Airdrie Regional Chamber of Commerce<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Groundhog Day Celebration is celebrating its 21st anniversary.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the really nice things about it is how many people return year after year, not only to show up but to help out at the event,” Cordingley said.<\/p>\n

While some families attended for the first time, this celebration has been a yearly tradition for some community members.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to come every year if it\u2019s my day off,\u201d said Marlene Cain as she waited in the crowd for Balzac Billy\u2019s prediction.<\/p>\n

Originally, the celebration took place at the Balzac Community Hall. As it continued to reach more guests each year, Blue Grass offered up its space to hold the annual community event.<\/p>\n

This year’s expected turnout was around 200 people.<\/p>\n

Balzac Billy was discovered in 1978, making him around 45 years old. He originally grew up behind a store in Balzac.<\/p>\n

Merle Osborne<\/a> ran the store and was the first to meet Billy and start his legend. She shared stories about the special groundhog up to no good. Eventually, this grabbed radio attention, and his popularity grew as the local groundhog and star of this event.<\/p>\n

According to local legend, if Balzac Billy wakes up and doesn\u2019t see his shadow, Alberta will enjoy an early spring.<\/p>\n

Although Billy predicts a longer winter, Shubenacadie Sam<\/a> from Nova Scotia didn’t see his shadow. But if Billy\u2019s prediction is correct, winter will be sticking around for a little while longer.<\/p>\n

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Winter prediction:<\/strong> The Billy mascot holds up an ice scraper at the Blue Grass Nursery and Garden Centre. (Photo by Jessyca Blakney\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Members of the community gathered to say good morning to Balzac Billy on Feb. 2. at the 21st annual Groundhog Day celebration held at the Blue Grass Nursery and Garden Centre. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":861,"featured_media":74275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S3 Groundhog Day JB","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1725,13,1583,1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-74274","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-nature","9":"category-news","10":"category-seasonal","11":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/861"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74274"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74443,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74274\/revisions\/74443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}