Event

Annual ducky derby held without ducks

by Phillip E. Honstein

For only the second time in its eight-year history, the Whatcom North Rotary Club Ducky Derby will be held without its main attraction: ducks. Instead, there will be a random drawing at Hovander Park, held at 1:00 Sunday, August 15, for prizes which include $5,000 cash.

KGMI general manager and Rotary member Rick Staib said that the ducks are on hold for safety reasons. "The reason for canceling the race is that it's too dangerous with the river running with the force that it is," Staib told the Record-Journal. Staib said that Nooksack River levels are too high to safely collect all the ducks after the race.

Staib said that a duck race and a raffle are equally random: "You can see the first ducks down the river, and they aren't the winners," he said. "They'll get caught up on rocks and log jams, whatever. There is no way you could ever predict which of those ducks has the best chance of winning the race."

Hovander Park, usually the finishing point of the race, will serve be the site of the raffle. There are ten prizes:

Grand prize: $5,000 cash; second place: trip for two to Hawaii; third and fourth place: $500 each; fifth place: $400 gift certificate for Brown & Cole stores; sixth place: $500 Ocean Kayak; seventh place: a night for two in Coupeville; eighth, ninth, and tenth place: $100 each.

The event usually raises between $20,000 to $30,000 which the Rotary Club donates to projects throughout the community. "There is an unlimited number of organizations that are doing good things for the community that are under-funded," Staib said. Past beneficiaries include the Boys & Girls Clubs, Computers for Kids, Girl Scouts, and the Ferndale High School band.

Each year there is a "designated project" targeted for funding. This year's designated project is the restoration of the baseball fields at Pioneer Park.

When the ducks are raced, a boom is stretched across the river with a "V" for catching the ducks. The first ten ducks that are caught are the winners.

The difficulty comes after the race, when Rotary members collect the ducks using boats and nets. "It's very challenging," Staib said. "If the ducks are going too fast they go over or under (the boom)." He said it is common for ducks to be caught beneath trees and bushes and in eddies and outcroppings. "It gets dangerous," Staib said.

Tickets for the Annual Rubber Ducky Race are $5 each and can be purchased from any Whatcom North Rotary Club member. Questions about the event, where to buy tickets, or how to submit an application for project funding can be directed to Rick Staib at KGMI, 734-9790, or Dr. Gary Snyder of the Ferndale Family Medical Center, 384-1511.

Tickets are available from any Whatcom North Rotary Club member, including Jerry Landcastle of Colonial Realty, and Greg Ayasaki of Vanguard Northwest.

Published August 1999 in the Record Journal Newspaper.