Sen. Champagne Participates in “Duck Day” in Eastford (Courant)

February 2, 2020

Story from the Hartford Courant:

EASTFORD — On Sunday, Feb. 2, Scramble the Duck predicted that Connecticut will have six more weeks of winter. Scramble has been 100-percent accurate for the past five years, superior to Punxsutawney Phil’s 39-percent. So despite Phil’s 2020 prediction of a warm spring, don’t put away any snow shovels yet, Scramble cautions.

During Duck Day, Scramble quacked quietly and his mentor, 14-year-old Isaac Torcellini, interpreted the much-awaited prediction: Scramble’s prediction happened during Duck Day, Eastford’s alternative to Groundhog Day. Visit scrambletheduck.org for more information or to view Scramble’s prediction.

Fifty people gathered at what was the warmest Duck Day ever, including State Sen. Dan Champagne, R-35th, and State Rep. Pat Boyd, D-50. Assisting Scramble were the three Torcellini brothers: Micah (age 16), Isaac (age 14), and Benjamin (age 10).

Scramble’s story began in 2014 on a farm in Eastford, when three young Torcellini brothers raised a duck. They named him Scramble because he scrambled out of his egg.

Pictured are Champagne (left), Boyd (right) and Micah, Isaac and Benjamin Torcellini, flocking around Scramble the Duck. (Photo by Julia Torcellini).