Our Adair® Limestone ‘Wiarton Willie’ turns 20 this year!

Why is Wiarton Willie white?

In 1955, a simple ‘celebration’ among a few friends in Wiarton became history when a visiting reporter from the Toronto Star created his own scoop by photographing a white fur hat and headlining it “High spirits, hole in ice, but as for groundhog – no dice.” And so, the legend of a white groundhog was born.

60th anniversary in 2016!
Today the Groundhog Day celebration in Wiarton every February draws about 10,000 visitors. This year, the festival is celebrating its 60th anniversary and is a six-day affair. In case you’ll be in the area, here’s a link to the festivities!

http://www.visitwiarton.ca/profile/wiarton-willie-festival/959/

The Adair® Statue

Dave Robinson (http://www.robinsonstudio.com/ ), an artist from the area, donated his time and talent to sculpt the weather-forecasting groundhog. Robinson began the work in the summer of 1995 on a single piece of dolomite limestone, about 1 meter x 2 meters and weighing around 7 tonnes. Arriscraft donated the stone from its Adair quarry in Hope Bay (20 km north of Wiarton).

Robinson decided to create a life-like, natural looking statue with minimal stylization. He also left the statue roughly carved so that the stone crystals could help retain the look of the albino groundhog. Weighing approximately 4.5 tonnes, the statue “Willie Emerging” was unveiled on February 3rd, 1996. And what a vantage point Willie has! He’s perched on a concrete base, surrounded by limestone boulders, against the backdrop of Colpoy’s Bay and the cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment.