PORT ANGELES — The quack is back, and this year, it is once again in person.
Rubber ducks are on sale now for the 2022 Great Olympic Peninsula Duck Derby set for May 22. The main race — set for 1:30 p.m. and preceded at 1 p.m. by the Very Important Duck (VID) race — will be in person this year after two years of virtual Duck Derby races.
The races also will be at a new venue — Pebble Beach Park at Front and Railroad streets in Port Angeles.
There, the Kids Pavilion and VOID party will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the park.
During the race, all “adoptive parents” will have an opportunity to win prizes, with the top prize being a 2022 Toyota Corolla donated by Wilder Toyota.
Proceeds of the annual fundraiser, which is presented by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, go to the Olympic Medical Center Foundation to support medical education and treatment in Clallam County through Olympic Medical Center.
“The time, effort, labor and equipment that various groups put into the Duck Derby, to make this event successful year after year, shows how each of us contributes to make this area such a great place to live,” said Bob Lovell, who co-chairs the 33rd annual race along with Rick Smith.
“So many individuals and organizations are tireless with their donations and work in this community to help make it what it is.”
Each duck ticket costs $6. For $30, adopters receive an extra duck (six chances to win) in the race.
For each duck that’s adopted, the purchaser receives a ticket with a printed number, which corresponds to a number on the duck.
All of the numbered ducks are “raced,” and the “owners” of the lead ducks will win prizes.
Duck tickets can be purchased from the Sequim High School leadership class, Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce, students from Peninsula College — who are raising money to support medical education and treatment in Clallam County — Olympic Medical Center employees, Port Angeles High football and basketball teams and senior class parents, the Parent-Teacher Organization at Franklin Elementary or from the OMC Foundation.
Ducks also are on sale daily at all Safeway stores in Sequim and Port Angeles, Wilder Toyota, Lovell’s Roadrunner Shell convenience store, Swains, Sound Community Bank, First Federal and several other locations.
Just prior to the main race will be The Bub and Alice Olsen Very Important Duck (VID) Race. This is an opportunity for businesses and individuals, including those from outside the Olympic Peninsula who do business with local companies, to purchase special VID ducks emblazoned with their logo, for $300 each.
As always, watching the race is free.
“It’s a pretty awesome sight to see 30,000 ducks race,” Smith said. “It’s not really about expecting to win, it’s just knowing that you’re donating to a worthy cause that matters. Winning is secondary.”
The event is operated under the rules of the Washington State Gambling Commission.
The foundation has given nearly $7 million dollars to, or on behalf of OMC, during the past decade, said Bruce Skinner, director of the foundation.
For more information, call the Olympic Medical Center Foundation at 360-417-7144 or see www.omhf.com.
