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Ducks race for a good cause

The Elk River was flooded with 1000 rubber ducks on Saturday morning as part of the Duck Race hosted by the 3300 Club.
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Volunteers help scoop out the rubber duck racers that floated down the Elk River on Sept. 19. The fundraiser is a yearly event for the 3300 Club

The Elk River was flooded with 1000 rubber ducks on Saturday morning as part of the Duck Race hosted by the 3300 Club.

The race, which has been an annual tradition for roughly 25 years, is a fundraiser, with the monies raised going towards youth sport in the Elk Valley.

“It goes towards kids sports in the community – baseball and soccer and different school teams that go to Provincials and stuff like that. They can apply for monies for their group to go somewhere,” said Marty Garrett, the organizer of this year’s event.

Ducks cost $5 per racer, allowing people to up their chances of winning by buying more. The ducks race from bridge to bridge, with the first duck to cross the finish line winning $1000 cash or a $1500 continental voucher for any US destination from Air Canada.  Runner’s up prizes include a barbeque sponsored by Home Hardware and 250,000 Overwaitea points.

The Duck Race is the second largest fundraiser of the year for the 3300 Club, and is a relaxed event. “It’s just a great fundraiser, and you get a lot of kids and families coming out to watch,” said Garrett.

The ducks are caught at the West Fernie Bridge and are re-used, however there are a few ducks that go amiss every year. Garrett said that this year's event is aiming to raise about $7000 for local youth sports teams.

This year, the fastest duck won in a time of 22:50, and won Bill Warrick the $1500 Air Canada voucher. Glenn Heppnner won the barbeque while Sarah Sedrovic won his and her’s watches from Jay’s Jewellers and Mervin Cole’s duck won him 250,000 Overwaitea points.