Duck Regatta returns to The Harbor
The third annual Rubber Duck Regatta kicks off Saturday, September 20 and event coordinators Brenda Cross and Ariana Hargrove have high hopes that it will be a splashing success.
Participants purchase rubber ducks to benefit Meals on Wheels and Boys & Girls Club of Rockwall County, and if they are lucky duckies they just might come home with prizes, too. The ducks will be numbered and released into the Harbor fountain, where they will race toward the finish line. The mightiest ducks who finish first will earn prizes for their owners.
The event will begin at 8 a.m. with a Running of the Nerds 5k. This new addition to the regatta gives runners and walkers the chance to snack on Nerds candies as they go, and participants will be given a nerd-themed T-Shirt. Top finishers will receive prizes such as the world’s largest box of Nerds.
For those who aren’t interested in getting up at the quack of dawn, the Duck Fest will open at the Harbor at 10 a.m. and will include food, live music and crafts. A few of this year’s vendors include Origami Owl, Once Upon a Cone, It’s a Bling Thing, and Pappy’s Pet Lodge.
“We typically have 100 vendors, and this year will be bigger as the Rockwall Auto Show will be happening at the same time and place,” Hargrove said.
Businesses can support the regatta by sponsoring and decorating mama ducks to enter in the Corporate Duck Beauty Pageant. Contestants will be on display beginning at 11 a.m. and the winner will be announced at noon. Hargrove said an average of 150 companies and individuals enter each year, and she has seen flocks of creative ideas.
Elizabeth Crider of Rock Ridge Assisted Living said their business supports the regatta because “it’s a great community event.” Their Rockin’ with Rock Ridge duck will be decked out from bill to toe in Elvis attire, ready to shake its tail feathers with its very own microphone and stage.
Dodie’s manager Dan Keils said he isn’t quite sure how their duck will be decorated yet, but once he gets a sense for the duck’s personality he will choose a costume that fits the bill.
Dr. Bart Miller of Rockwall Crossing Orthodontics said he too wasn’t certain how their duck would be dressed, but one thing was for sure: “Our duck will be sporting its beautiful smile just like last year. And with a beautiful smile like that, the rest is just window dressing.”
Festivities will finish up with a mini glow-in-the-dark duck race at 9 p.m., followed by firequackers over Lake Ray Hubbard.
Hargrove said the regatta has raised more than $80,000 for Boys & Girls Club and Meals on Wheels over the last two years, and typically attracts 5,000 people. Cross and Hargrove first hatched the idea back in 2011 when they were in Leadership Rockwall.
“I really wanted to do something for the Meals on Wheels organization,” Hargrove said. “I researched successful community fundraisers and came across the duck race concept. I pitched it to the group and Brenda indicated that the Boys & Girls Club had expressed an interest in doing one. Although the Leadership Rockwall class chose not to do the event, Brenda and myself decided to go ahead and do it anyway. It just grew from there.”
For more info or to purchase a duck, visit rockwallduckrace.org.
By Blue Ribbon News reporter Julie Anne White.
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