PORT ANGELES — The race will go on.
The Great Olympic Peninsula Duck Derby will be conducted this year at Lincoln Park in Port Angeles — and plans at this time are to do it without the usual crowd and instead live-stream it.
Duck tickets go on sale for the 31st Annual Duck Derby on Friday for the race that will be held Aug. 23, said Bruce Skinner, executive director of the Olympic Medical Center Foundation, which sponsors the annual race, in a press release.
Proceeds will benefit the foundation, which has given nearly $5 million dollars to or on behalf of OMC during the past decade.
Racers will have the opportunity to win a 2020 Toyota Yaris provided by Wilder Toyota and 39 other prizes.
Unless COVID-19 restrictions are loosened by the day of the race, the event will be live-streamed with no public present in person, according to the foundation.
Duck tickets can be purchased from members of the OMC Foundation, Olympic Medical Center employees, and students from Peninsula College who are raising money to support medical education and treatment in Clallam County.
Duck tickets also will be on sale daily at all Safeway stores in Port Angeles and Sequim, Wilder Toyota, Lovell’s Roadrunner Shell convenience store, Franklin Elementary PTO, Sound Bank, First Federal and several other locations.
The race will be presented by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and operated under the rules of the Washington State Gambling Commission.
“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. So many individuals and organizations are tireless with their donations and work in this community to help make it what it is,” said Bob Lovell, who co-chairs the race along with Rick Smith.
“It’s a pretty awesome sight to see 30,000 ducks race,” added co-chair Rick Smith. “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.”
Each duck ticket will cost $6. For $30, adopters receive an extra duck (six chances to win) in the race.
Just prior to the main race, The Bub and Alice Olsen Very Important Duck (VID) Race will be held, which is an opportunity for businesses and individuals, including those from outside the Peninsula who do business with local companies, to purchase special V.I.D. ducks emblazoned with their logo, for $300 each.
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” at Lincoln Park on race day, and the “owners” of the lead ducks will win prizes.
For more information, potential owner/racers can contact the Olympic Medical Center Foundation at 360-417-7144.
