Green Bay mayor to display 'Lucky Llama' on New Year's

GREEN BAY, Wis., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The city of Green Bay is Celebrating New Year's Eve with the help of a "legendary llama" which the mayor claims will bring good luck.

Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt has recruited a fifteen-year-old llama named Abstract to march around downtown in a sash as the centerpiece of the city's New Year's Eve celebration.

"Legend has it that if you view this llama on New Year's Eve good things will come your way the following year," Schmitt told WBAY of Abstract's role in the holiday festivities.

The mayor admitted that this legend is mostly the result of his own imagination, as he and his staff sought to create a new tradition to bring residents to downtown on New Year's Eve.

"We talked about building a big replica cheesehead and lighting it up at Leicht park, but I like the llama," he says.

While the legend of the "Lucky Llama" is largely fabricated, Abstract's owners say he's still not just a typical llama.

Husband and wife LeAnna Franklin and Keith Bancroft raised Abstract along with 15 other llamas at their farm KeLe Alpacas. The other 14 were sold, but Abstract was left behind and wound up becoming the star of several local events as well as visiting the elderly.

"People at nursing homes just love having him come through," Franklin told the Green Bay Press Gazette. "He'll stand absolutely still while people paw all over him."

Abstract is set to make his appearance in downtown Green Bay between 8:45 p.m. and 9 p.m. in advance of the city's fireworks display.