“Kennedy” stumbles at finish line, “George
W. $&?*#” wins 5th annual Duck Derby!
EverythingWestport.com
Sunday,
August 10, 2008
Race results
posted! Click here to see race result winners!
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The salt marsh across
from Corey’s Island, Westport – Lead duck Kennedy stunned a field of a
record-breaking 4165 challengers when, after being the front-runner for the
entire race, he stumbled and hit the wall 8 feet from the wire allowing dark
horse George W. $&?*# to
come from 20 feet behind on the outside to win the 5th Annual Duck Derby.
In
an amazing turn of events, rubber ducky George W. $&?*#, never a
contender to win, came from way back to squeak in a victory over Hobart
and Kennedy
when a brisk southwest wind blew the front runners into the wall at the
finish line. Kennedy led the flock over the 295 yard course only to bump and
crash, allowing second place finisher Hobart to pass him 6 feet from the
wire, only to hit the wall himself. George W. $&?*#, coming up on the
outside, avoided the quack-up and went on to win the Allens Pond Sanctuary’s
Duck Derby. Left: Judge Karen
Quigley holds up George W. $&?*# while Judge Michael Walker retrieves the
second place finisher, Hobart. David Cole looks on.
Reminiscent
of his namesake in 2002, George W. $&?*# took out the favored
challenger at the bell to win a Trip For
Two Anywhere in the World for his handler, Donna Amaral of Westport. Barbara
Feingold of Dartmouth took home a $300 gift certificate from Village Bicycle
for Hobart’s
second place finish, and Clay Stites won a $250 gift
certificate from Lees Market when his duck Kennedy took third.
Race
time was postponed to 1:03 p.m. while the quackers were moved to the southern
side of the race course to compensate for a southwest wind. The winner was
plucked from the water at 1:16 p.m. and held aloft by Judge Karen Quigley. ‘Duckmaster’ Norman Buck was the official starter of the 5th
annual Duck Derby.
A
last minute change of Derby location was due to the blockage of the channel by
shifting sands on Little Beach. This inlet to Allens Pond usually provides a
swift current into Barneys Joy, but not today. The race was moved to the east
of F.L. Tripp and Sons boatyard Between Horseneck
Point and Corey Island.
Delta, last year’s winning
duck, didn’t place. Too many sardines!
Gina Purtell (left with Dad Joe), Director of the Allens
Pond Sanctuary, said she was pleased with the results, especially in light of the
last minute change to a new venue. “Any change to a race event can cause
confusion to the competitors,” she said. “The race course is only accessible by
boat (lucky for the quackers, not so lucky for this photographer!), and course
conditions were unknown.” Volunteer Mike Sylvia, working under a beautiful jet
stream-induced sky and ideal conditions, quickly read the wind and made the appropriate
change to the starting line. “The ducks were getting anxious,” he said.
“They’ve been preparing for this race all year long, and any delays will just
get their dander up. They’re very difficult to manage when they get that way,”
Mr. Sylvia,
the course marshal, was ever vigilant in preventing last minute mishaps. “I’ve
left no duck behind,” he declared! “I have not lost a duck yet!
Ms.
Purtell added that the 4165 challengers represented
an 11% increase over last year, a record breaking number. “The community really
responded to the duck derby this year,” she said. “We raised $35,000, $5000
more than last year. It was definitely a tremendous success.” Of the $35,000,
$4500 came from a silent auction and bidding on plants and the low-numbered
plate, and sales of food and t-shirts. Silent auction prices on John Van de Graaff prints were very good, fetching prices as high as
$150 each.
Race results
posted! Click here to see 2008 race result winners!
Click here to read about 2007 winner Pam Joyce’s restaurant
choice!
View photos of 2007 Duck Derby.
Read
article about last year’s race!
Reached
for comment, Donna Amaral thinks Australia or China
may be her destination point for dinner. George W. $&?*# gets the last
laugh, but Donna gets a feast for two halfway around the world!
Duck Derby festivities continue at
the field station.
Sailboats scampered across the horizon under crystal blue skies dappled
with towering white cumulonimbus clouds, and guests walked the pristine fields
and trails of Allens Pond Sanctuary, enjoying the activities on perhaps the
finest day of the summer.
The day was
just ducky too for Allens Pond super volunteer Donna Amaral
of Westport (left) as, not only did
her duck George W. win the duck derby, but she prevailed over duckmaster Norman Buck (sans duck bill hat!) in a bidding
skirmish to win the low-numbered, Massachusetts Land and Water automobile
registration plate. It went for $700! The spirited bidding was orchestrated by Tooey Rogers, husband of the Mass Audubon’s president. He
was magnificent in fueling the auction and wheedling the most out of the
bidders.
Fred Dabney of Quansett Nurseries auctioned his donated plants
to a receptive crowd, which finally spawned a high dollar bidding war over the
shade plant group won by Peggy Stevens, the Land Trust’s new Executive Director.
She paid $140!
All in fun as the Allens Pond Sanctuary benefited by the good-natured
battles of the bidders. The real winner, as always, was the Sanctuary. “You need to thank the
volunteers who work day in and day out to make these events successful,” Ms. Purtell said. “I’m so happy one of our own very active
volunteers, Donna Amaral, won the derby.”
Decoy’s
Unlimited, Inc., an exhibitor, was giving appraisals for antique decoys. “The
first decoy of the day was a Bert Graves Canvasback Drake, circa 1910,” Ted
Harmon of West Barnstable said. “Probably made in Peoria, from the Illinois
River. Worth about $2400!”
Left to right: (1) Fred Dabney, auctioneer, of Quansett Nurseries; (2) Peggy Stevens (blue sweater and
green hat, wins the shade plant group bidding; (3) Tooey Rogers fires up the bidding for
the license plate; and (4) auction prices on John Van de Graaff
prints were very good.
Music once
again came from the talented group New Bedford Harbor Sea Shanty Chorus. Also
there were many activities for the young and not so young: Water-track derby,
Lucky Ducks carrousel game, fishing pool, face painting, and papermaking with
talented Westport artist and photographer Ruth Edwards. Food?
There was plenty of it! And educational exhibits gave visitors an opportunity
to learn a little more about the role of the Audubon Society plays in our
community.
Left: Amy
Blackburn of Effingham, NH with son Nathaniel, age 2, getting his face painted!
Right: “The first decoy of the day
was a Bert Graves Canvasback Drake, circa 1910,” Ted Harmon of West Barnstable
said.
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