PORT ANGELES – When David Charles got a phone call saying that his duck came in first, he thought it was a prank call.
Charles, of Port Angeles, won the grand prize – a Toyota Tundra pickup truck donated by Wilder Toyota of Port Angeles – in the 18th annual Great Olympic Peninsula Duck Derby on Sunday.
Charles got the call from Bruce Skinner, executive director of the Olympic Medical Center Foundation which, along with the Sequim Rotary Club, organizes the fundraiser.
“I’ve known Bruce for a long time,” Charles said, “so my first question was if it was a joke.”
“That is typical of most years,” said Skinner.
“They always think that I’m putting them on, or that their friends are playing a joke on them.”
Charles’ winning rubber duck led a flock of 35,567 that floated down the rain-dappled Nippon Paper Mill canal on the incoming tide.
The first 59 ducks to reach the finish line won prizes worth more than $25,000.
The record-breaking number of ducks topped the last record of 31,789 ducks adopted that was set in 2005.
Skinner estimated – final figures are not computed yet – that the derby brought in close to $125,000 for the foundation and the Rotary club.
The money goes to the club’s charitable projects and needed equipment at Olympic Medical Center.
Preceding the derby was the Very Important Duck race.
Businesses and individuals purchased special ducks emblazoned with their logos for $250 each.
Hollywood Beach Condominiums won the $1,000 prize in the VID race.
Charles said that winning the truck was “really, really great.
“I have been playing a long time and I sort of had a feeling this would be the year I would win, so I went out and bought $100 worth of ducks.”
Ducks cost $5 each, or $25 for six ducks.
Charles has had a duck in the race since the first derby.
Despite Sunday’s rain, he watched the ducks be dumped into the Nippon canal.
“I haven’t missed a Duck Derby yet,” he said.
“I like to go out and meet with my neighbors, have a hot dog and just have a good time.”
Charles wasn’t there when his prize was announced.
He left early, along with most of the approximately 80 soggy people at the derby.
Drizzle, which began about an hour before the Very Important Duck race, quickly turned to rain.
By the time the final announcement was made, eight people stood in the rain and a few sat in their cars listening to the announcement on KONP-AM 1450 radio.
Wilder has provided a vehicle as the first-place prize since the derby began in 1989.
In addition to the pickup, racers won cash prizes sponsored by 7 Cedars Casino, travel packages, gift certificates worth up to $500, and dozens of other prizes from merchants.
Games for children – including golf, crafts and a jump house – were available at the event along with chili and hot dogs for sale.
