Those who've been following this weather thread for a while know that Yuki is our official snow-measuring mascot, contributing his name to a snowstorm scale ranging from Y1 to Y5 (each Y is about 7 inches, Yuki's height.) It might even be fair to say that with each snowstorm, Yuki is fast becoming Lake Winnipesaukee's own version of the Mount Washington Observatory cat.
Well, Yuki has a new President as of Tuesday's election - The Mount Washington Observatory's cat primary, that is.
The MWO has a decades-old tradition of having a cat for a pet on the summit, and over the years their cats have become famous in stories-turned-folklore, posters (like Inga covered in frost) postcards, internet postings, books, and more.
In late December their latest cat, Nin, retired from his scratching post to live out his final years in a less-remote location, after being on the summit since 1995.
The MWO asked the Conway Humane Society to choose 3 possibilities for Nin's replacement, and posted online profiles for each on the MWO website,
www.mountwashington.org.
On Tuesday while the rest of us were casting ballots in defiance of the media, over 8,000 people visited the MWO website to cast ballots for "New Hampshire's Top Cat."
The voters overwhelmingly chose Marty, a 2-year-old gray fluffy cat, over two lesser-experienced catidates.
MWO staff said they will serve as 'Electoral College' during their adoption visit to the humane society next week. New Hampshire's new Top Cat will be inaugurated with a snow tractor ride up the Auto Road next Wednesday, where he will get busy meeting the NH Park Rangers who will serve as his forbidden food smugglers, and get a briefing from his new staff of meteorologists.
In his term of office, he can expect to pose for lots of printed material in-house and external, appear in cat-lover magazines worldwide, and his staff will receive thousands of paw-stamped letters and post cards sent from other cats through their own human staff members.
For more details on "New Hampshire's Other Election", visit
www.mountwashington.org.