(Photo above: Rotarians Lisa Dobey, Pamela Hulse Andrews, Brian Shawver selling Duck tickets) | photo by Michael Sipe)
The official kick off of the Great Drake Park Duck Race was staged at Mountain Star Relief Nursery. The Great Drake Park Duck Race, now in its 26th year, is a favorite Bend tradition. Rotarians “launch” the ducks in the Deschutes River at the Galveston Bridge and collect the winners downstream from the foot bridge in Drake Park.
$5 raffle tickets are sold by Bend Rotarians, selected non-profit entities and local Credit Unions Working Together. Numbers on the tickets correspond to numbers on the plastic ducks, with the winning ducks receiving prizes donated by area businesses. This year’s first place prize is a $20,000 voucher toward the purchase of a vehicle from Smolich Motors.
Connect with your local Rotarian to purchase a raffle ticket or stop in at any local credit union.
Bend Rotary Clubs raised over $89,000 from 2014 ticket sales—all of which went to local non-profit entities. Over the years over $1.2 million have been raised from this event. Selected non-profits over the years include The Boys and Girls Clubs, Mountain Star Relief Nursery, Healthy Beginnings, SMART and other local organizations.
This year’s race will take place Sunday, September 13.
HISTORY OF THE DUCK RACE AND ROTARY
According to Chas Nelson, a member of the Rotary Club of Greater Bend who helped organize the first race, the event was the idea of the Central Oregon Duck Club. The first race was in 1989 and was approved by the Lottery Commission for the Boom Collection and the type of ducks used.
The first three years it was run under the U of O Lottery License with the Duck Club getting $1,000 of the proceeds. “As the event got bigger the Beavers didn’t like the idea that they were donating to the Ducks for their football team,” Nelson remembered.
The Duck Club relationship ended and the Rotary took over the licensing with the profits going to local non-profit agencies. “We have been very fortunate to have a community that supports this great event.
Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. In more than 160 countries worldwide, approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 30,000 Rotary clubs.
