The Shell Factory and Nature Park owner Tom Cronin showed Mona his best side Thursday morning and the groundhog didn’t even whistle.

Cronin, attired in top hat, tuxedo and shorts, lost his pants at 7:24 a.m. while emceeing the first Lee County Groundhog Day. The crowd roared and one spectator sized up the situation.

“You can’t see a groundhog’s shadow with the moon out,'’ hollered Brett Vogelbach of North Fort Myers. If Pennsylvanian groundhog Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow Feb. 2, it means six more weeks of winter. No doubt feeling a chill, Cronin resurrected his shorts, but Mona, a chubby 9-month-old gray groundhog sitting behind him, clearly wasn’t enamored by the glimpse.

“Groundhogs call their mates with a low whistle,'’ says Danika Fornear, Nature Park director.
Better luck next year, Tom. He took the snub in stride.

“If you moon somebody when you’re 30, you get your face slapped,'’ Cronin says. “When you’re 67, people just laugh at you. Of course, at 30, you have more to expose.'’

Thursday’s overcast skies took away the shadow factor, so event coordinator Richard Dunmire, a Punxsutawney native, leaned next to Mona to hear a six-week forecast similar to the one Mona’s cousin, Phil, delivers in Pennsylvania.

“I’m the only one who knows groundhogese,'’ says Dunmire, a longtime county teacher. “Mona told me she was a little embarrassed. It’s the first time she’s ever been mooned.'’

Dunmire fed the forecast to Cronin, who announced to 100 folks: “There will be no more winter. Mona has spoken.'’

The prediction culminated a long 26 hours for Mona. Tom Bennett, who works with Wildlife Wonders north of Atlanta, says he and Mona drove 12 hours Wednesday to get to North Fort Myers. Fornear says Mona woke up at 5:30 a.m. Thursday to prepare for her calling.

“She had Triskets, carrots and a little piece of apple for breakfast,'’ Fornear says.
A relative of Phil and Clymer Freas, who in 1887 started the “Punxsutawney Phil'’ tradition, was on hand Thursday.

“My great-grandmother was their sister,'’ says John Haag of Schenectady, N.Y. “It’s surprising Florida would pay so much attention to a Pennsylvania kind of thing. It’s kind of neat.'’

Dunmire says the Nature Park has big plans for Mona.
“We’re hoping Bill Murray will join us next year for the ceremony,'’ he says of the actor who starred in the movie “Groundhog Day.'’

County Commissioner Tammy Hall, who helped secure Cronin’s falling shorts, says Mona has star quality.
“Mona will get a movie, I feel it,'’ says Hall, peering at the groundhog. “Phil will having nothing on Mona.'’ Hall’s right about Phil. His predictions are wrong 61 percent of the time.

by Sam Cook, News Press staff