Where IS the Cape Cod Quahog? As the search for the Quahog continues, we received another clue to his whereabouts on February 6th. Seems the little soothsayer got sidetracked from his planned journey to Punxsutawney, PA for Groundhog Day. He mailed us the postcard above, which clearly places him in the crowd at the WMVY Big Chili Contest on Martha’s Vineyard on January 30th. Sources from the Chili Contest say he was the life of the party – even dancing with the mariachi band – until he overhead that one of the chili recipes contained quahogs as an ingredient. He disappeared shortly after into the crowd. The Cape Cod Quahog has now been on the run since Labor Day weekend, when he fled the area to avoid consequences of his erroneous 2009 prognostication.

See you June 21, 2010 for the 2nd Annual Cape Cod Quahog Day!

Proving the groundhog has nothing over the quahog, Cape Cod kicked off Summer 2009 with the inaugural Cape Cod Quahog Day.

The centerpiece of this fun and offbeat event, marking the first day of Summer, is the Quahog’s prognostication for how many weeks of beach weather lie ahead. Knowing it could be a challenge to communicate with the little soothsayer, we called upon Johnny Quahog, the esteemed Secretary General of Quahog Republic, who speaks the secret language of the bi-valve. As throngs of people waited in anticipation, the Secretary General consulted briefly with the Quahog before announcing the good news. He had predicted 11 ½ weeks of sunshine!

Now how accurate was the Quahog’s prognostication, you may ask? It depends on who you talk to. While the weather in July ‘09 was quite unpredictable, the Cape experienced a stretch of sunny weather from mid-August all the way through October. 

The Quahog’s defenders argue that his prognostication was in fact correct, but that his timing was off for when we would start actually seeing the sunny skies. Others felt the Quahog had missed the mark completely and demanded he be eaten at the end of the summer, to make way for a new and more reliable Quahog at the 2010 prognostication ceremony. (Note: as of this writing, the Quahog had gone into hiding. If you have any sightings of our little friend, please let us know on our Twitter or Facebook pages.)

Other highlights of the inaugural Quahog Day included a clambake preparation ritual, tribal dancing by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and competitions for the title of 2009 Ms. Quahog, Boss Hog and Mister/Miss Littleneck.  Far from a beauty pageant, these contestants faced such challenges as shell tossing, shrimp eating, defrosting a frozen t-shirt, digging for quahogs, watermelon eating and the limbo.

To view photos from Quahog Day 2009, visit the Photo Section of our Facebook fan page! Or, watch the video below to watch history in the making at the First Annual Quahog Prognostication Ceremony.

Prognostication Ceremony

 

 

The Cape Cod Quahog made a rare appearance in our Quahog Day float at the Provincetown Carnival Parade in August 2009!

 

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QUAHOG WATCH: There have been numerous sightings of the Cape Cod Quahog since he went into hiding in September 2009, including a rare appearance at the Provincetown Carnival Parade (video above), a visit with Santa, at an area bus stop, and at the new Quahog Republic Retail Hut in Plymouth (photos below). Have you spotted the Cape Cod Quahog? Let us know!