I learned over the last two such events that if she does not light off after a few cranks to drain out all of the old gas and go down to the local station and buy a fresh 5 gallon can of gasoline.

 

This year I tried treating the tank with Lucas stabilizer in the gas before storage.  I think it helped my small engines but did not seem to help the old WC.   It puttered a few times on the old gas but never made any sign of lighting off.   Three cranks with fresh fuel and it was running. 

 

I have learned to do this same trick on any engine that has been stored for a while and it is amazing how often it fixes the problems.