Cracking the snow day secret code

[snopes]

One teacher I know says that when there 's heavy snow in the forecast, she 'll get joking calls from other teachers, who will whisper into the phone: Chrysanthemum.

Linda Bernhardt, a teacher at Mendota Elementary, says it goes back to a rumor that there is a secret code word needed to call radio and television stations, and alert them to call a snow day for the Madison schools. She 's heard the code dates to the Doug Ritchie administration, when someone called in a fake snow day. The rumor holds that the secret code is the name of a flower.

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/colu...hp?ntid=266023