NAHANT — Nahant’s favorite friendly waterfowl has received a new distinction.
Last Friday, the Nahant Historical Society (NHS) inducted Cheerio, a three-year-old American black duck, into its ranks during a ceremony held at the organization’s Valley Road headquarters.
“It’s been a gray year, and we thought it would be nice to shine a little smile around the community,” said NHS Executive Director Julie Tarmy, who helped put together the event that drew roughly two dozen onlookers.
As the organization’s first non-human inductee, Cheerio isn’t a stranger to making headlines.
Now well-known globally amongst his nearly 17,000 Instagram followers, Cheerio has been a fixture of the Nahant community since 2017, when Steven Thibeault, grounds manager at Bass Point Apartments, discovered the then-newborn duckling struggling to escape the apartment complex pool.
Despite his best efforts to reunite Cheerio with his mother, the young duck quickly imprinted on Thibeault, refusing to leave his side and following him home at the end of every work day.
The pair have since become inseparable, and although Cheerio no longer sticks quite so closely to Thibeault during the day, he still makes sure to never stray too far from his human companion, making his way back to the complex’s parking lot by evening so that the two can head for home together.
“I’ve worked with him since he was a duckling,” Thibeault said. “I’d just whistle, and he’d know that was his cue to come to me. Within five to 10 minutes he’d come flying in from wherever he was and we’d go home.”
The idea of inducting Cheerio into the Nahant Historical Society was first posed by the organization’s social media manager, Susanne Macarelli, who was inspired by a post she’d seen on the Marblehead Museum Facebook page announcing a similar membership ceremony for a cow named Curly.
Tarmy said the organization immediately thought Cheerio — whose story has since been featured in a number of local and national news outlets — would make the perfect honorary member to represent Nahant, so they reached out to Thibeault to see if he would be interested in participating.
At first hesitant to give in to the surge of media attention surrounding his feathered friend, Thibeault said he relented when he realized the heartwarming tale might help prompt some smiles during an otherwise relentless year of dismal news.
Thankfully, it seems the bird himself has been up for the challenge.
“Everybody who came (to the ceremony) just left with a smile,” Tarmy said. “We had the Public Library Director, Sharon Hawkes, bring a handful of children’s books she had on ducks because we wanted it to be light, and it was.
“We even had people stop in their cars (and ask) ‘what’s going on with the duck?’ And we let them know.”
As for Cheerio, he’s been taking his burgeoning fame in stride.
“This is just the beginning,” Thibeault said. “His story is far from over.”
Elyse Carmosino can be reached at [email protected].
