Buckeye Chuck predicts six more weeks of winter.
It was cold enough on Groundhog Day that Buckeye Chuck refused to leave his warm burrow, signaling six more weeks of winter. Buckeye Chuck spokesperson and WMRN morning man Paul James told us that Chuck has a 75% accuracy rate in predicting the coming of spring, a much better record than Punxsutawney Phil's. Paul told us that Chuck was a friendly groundhog living in the woods behind the Marion, Ohio radio station when then-morning man Charlie Evers began talking about him on his show. Chuck became so popular the station held a contest to name him, and in 1979, the Ohio legislature proclaimed Buckeye Chuck Ohio's official weather forecasting groundhog. Chuck has been making his predictions every year since then, drawing hundreds of people to the radio station every Groundhog Day. As part of the celebration, the station served Spam sandwiches to the crowd. Why Spam? As Paul pointed out, Spam is pork shoulder and ham...ground hog. The original Buckeye Chuck is long decreased, but he has been preserved and Paul brought him along to Rotary. The current Buckeye Chuck is usually a rescue from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources who is released once spring arrives.
