My First Wacky Quacky Duck Derby

The 2023 United Way of Wayne and Holmes Counties (UWWH) Wacky Quacky Duck Derby was the first time I had ever heard of a “Duck Derby.” Having the opportunity to participate in it, I was not disappointed. Most people don’t see how much work and effort goes into putting together a rubber duck race that takes about 10 minutes.

The first part is getting the word out and designing flyers, emails, and social media posts to inform the world of our fabulous event. After you prepare the materials and create the back end so people can adopt ducks online, you must find ways to share the information. The communication portion of the event is the longest, as this goes on for a couple of months before the ducks take a swim.

The week of the event is a flurry of activity. Each duck must be sorted and accounted for to be sure all the numbers are there. This year, there were nearly 1,000. Ducks were everywhere; in our conference room, on the floor, on tables, and on chairs. It reminded me of a ball pit, except it was ducks.

On the day of the event, it’s all hands-on deck. As we ensure we have everything we need, we are still taking last-minute duck adoptions and ensuring those ducks make it to the stream. The City of Wooster was a big help and donated snow fences and stakes, which I found out later are critical to retrieving the plastic racers.

Since the race’s inception, we have been fortunate to have an anonymous donor volunteer their property as the place to hold the event. The venue is perfect for duck racing. There is a lovely bridge overlooking a beautiful stream in the countryside.

Thankfully, a few volunteers were Derby veterans and knew exactly what needed to be done. A few of us carried the boxes of ducks up to the top of the bridge while the others walked downstream to set up the snow fence and finish line. Many hands make light work, and we were prepared to start racing about 15 minutes after arriving.

There was much concern about the water level in the stream. The rain was not seen in a few weeks, and the stream was low. The ducks were up to the challenge as the sponsorship ducks were released for their race. Two sponsor ducks made an early commanding lead and finished in the first two places. I was in the position to be the official duck catcher as I caught several ducks in the order of finish and thought catching them was easy. Congratulations to Park National Banks duck “Pork,” who won the sponsor race and was presented with a trophy.

Nothing could have prepared me for what followed. A deluge of nearly 1,000 ducks was thrown into the stream from the top of the bridge. The whole stream immediately in front of the bridge was solid yellow with the ducks. I previously googled pictures of duck derbies and knew what I was in for, but the pictures don’t do it justice.

Before I knew it, the first couple of ducks were already at the finish line, and I scrambled to pick them out of the water and keep them in the order they arrived. It was exciting to see them battle for position and bounce around the obstacles in the low stream for a few minutes of the race. All the preparation and plans had been executed to completion.

Everyone pitched in, catching the ducks, and pulling them from the stream. Even though we had installed the snow fence, a few of them found a way to sneak through and make a run for it. Thankfully we were prepared with muck boots and chased them down. We loaded the ducks, pulled up the snow fencing and stakes, and returned to the office.

UWWH was fortunate to have another donor offer their dishwasher for cleaning the ducks. A process that can take a whole day was shortened to under an hour. Once everything was put back in its place, I reflected and was amazed at how much work it takes to have an event that takes such a short time.

I realized that the effort is a testament to the ingenuity and commitment of the UWWH staff to raise funds for our community. That “whatever it takes” attitude that everyone has reflects the dedication the staff has to this mission. Whether it’s a massive event like the Heart & Ghoul with over 1000 participants or a short virtual race, everyone puts all their efforts into success. We raised $9,376.00 with 975 ducks adopted and had some fun in the process. It reminds me of a quote from Henry Ford, “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”