in the year 2012 Holtsville Hal was the Only one to predict the Early Spring we all experienced. Everyone was happy !! Happy, Happy, Happy !
last year in 2013 the weather was warm just prior February 2, 2013 but Holtsville Hal wasn't fooled by that he felt the ground switch quickly back to a rock solid state and when He came out he immediately saw something that looked exactly like him and told his Mayor of the Day Brookhaven Town Supervisor Edward P. Romaine to expect a long Winter ahead. Boy was he right again........but some people weren't
so happy.......and getting to work by sled was not an option ! But when Hal predicts .................................................................. Everyone Listens !
Holtsville Hal is a True Blue First Rate North American Groundhog from his Birth Place in Forest Lake, Minnesota the snow has no effect on his ability to predict and wake up on time each year at 7:00AM for his 7:25 AM Prognostication ! The plows may get stuck in the snow...But Not Him !
In 2012 Superintendent of Highways John Rouse who wanted to keep the Highways Department budget in check and hoping for a very mild winter was determined to convince Holtsville Hal that Winter was nowhere in sight and Spring was just around the corner ! On the morning of Groundhog Day, John had his staff sneak, very quietly
up to Hal's home and turned it into a Tropical Oasis.....John didn't miss a trick, he even....in the freezing cold showed up in shorts, Hawaiian shirt,
with surfboard, and Beach ball wearing his summer sunglasses and beach shoes.
As John stood there in front of Hal, desperately trying NOT to show he was freezing with
goose pimples now all over him, he asked Hal for his Official 2012 Prognostication. But
Hal already knew an Early Spring was headed our way, and whispered to John , " I love the look ! ".....and am predicting the first Early Spring in a long time, without your help !
In the end, amazingly John still got his way, almost catching a cold to do it....and we wish him well in his new position as Judge on the Suffolk County Court.
People often ask how do we wake Holtsville Hal from his deep winters sleep for his Prognostication reading on February 2nd. It's really not that scientific......Hal has already been asleep for some time and has a reminder over his bed and a special alarm clock on the wall set to go off at 6:00 AM, on February 2nd, the exact same time Bill Murray woke to the song " I Got You Babe " to get ready for the Official 7:25 AM Prognostication reading in the Movie Groundhog Day. By the time Hal's handler picks him up for the show he's already brushed his teeth and is wide awake after his favorite cup of Hot Haliccino so that he can clearly see or not see his shadow. The night before is more hectic for Hal's Chief Weatherman Wayne Carrington who has been known to stay up all night checking off lists of last minute preparations so that you have another great .....Groundhog Day ! Groundhog Day 2019 preparations start on February 3rd ! !
