The Rotary Club Duck Derby will be making a splash in Fireman’s Park this weekend with a rubber duck race, children’s activities, concert and more benefiting causes supported by the club. The club set a goal of 10,000 rubber ducks sold and as of Friday had almost broken 70%, with over 6,600 sold.

Gates for the event will open at 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17 with free admission at Fireman’s Park. At 4:30 p.m. there will be a new addition to the event, the inaugural Waddle Fall. Two-hundred ducks will be dropped from a Graham Fire Rescue truck onto a target with a grand prize of $2,500 for the person closest to the center. Each duck in the Waddle Fall will cost $50 and those proceeds will benefit Young County volunteer fire departments. “This is something that I’m very passionate about, I’m very excited about. With the help of the Graham Fire Department, we have come up with a fundraising portion of our event that will go to benefit the volunteer fire departments in Young County,” Rotary Club President Grant Ingram said in a previous interview. “We’re going to have 200 rubber ducks lifted with the use of the fire department’s ladder truck, I think 60 to 70 feet. We’re gonna paint a target on the ground in the grass below it with a bullseye in the middle and we’re going to drop those ducks. The closest duck bill to the middle of that target, wins $2,500.” Following the Waddle Fall will be the Duck Parade where the truck carrying the ducks will circle Fireman’s Park. The rubber duck race will begin immediately afterwards at 5 p.m. The club will race the rubber ducks for various prizes for first, second, third and dead duck last. The club has prizes of $5,000 for first place, $500 for second place, $100 for third place and $250 for dead duck last. “(...) Our goal is still 10,000 (ducks sold). We’ve been able to hit that the last couple of years. So we’re very confident that we’ll be able to reach that number. And again, you know, the more ducks that are adopted, the more money we give right back to our community and the more your chance to win the $5,000 first-place prize,” Ingram said. For the full story, see the Wednesday, Sept. 14 edition of The Graham Leader.

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