PORT ANGELES — Ducks are on sale for the 35th annual Duck Derby presented by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, with racers having an opportunity to win a 2024 Toyota Corolla provided by Wilder Toyota on May 19.
Proceeds will benefit the Olympic Medical Center Foundation, which has given more than $12 million dollars to or on behalf of OMC during the last 10 years.
Duck tickets can be purchased from members of the OMC Foundation, Olympic Medical Center employees, the Peninsula Daily News office, Port Angeles High School football, soccer and basketball teams, the Sequim-Dungeness Chamber of Commerce, Health Occupations Classes in Sequim and Port Angeles, the Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association, the Sequim High School leadership class, Port Angeles High School cheerleaders, and students from Peninsula College who are raising money to support medical education and treatment in Clallam County.
Ducks also will be on sale daily at all Safeway stores in Port Angeles and Sequim, Wilder Toyota, Swains, Sound Community Bank, First Federal and several other locations.
The event will be at 1:30 p.m. May 19 at Pebble Beach Park, located at Front and Railroad streets in Port Angeles, where all ducks will have a chance to win prizes. It is 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,” said Bob Lovell, who co-chairs the race along with Rick Smith, in a press release. “So many individuals and organizations are tireless with their donations and work in this community to help make it what it is.”
“It’s a pretty awesome sight to see 30,000 ducks,” co-chair Rick Smith said in the press release. “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 costs $7. For $35, 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) Pluck will be held, an opportunity for businesses and individuals, including those from outside the Peninsula who do business with local companies, to purchase special VID ducks emblazoned with their logo, for $350 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 will be placed in the back of Toyota pickup trucks, and the first ducks drawn will win prizes.
For more information, call the Olympic Medical Center Foundation at 360-417-7144.
