It might have been a chilly day outside, but the support for the fourth annual Judy Martin Memorial Duck Derby provided some warmth for the Estevan Humane Society (EHS).
All of the 2,000 rubber ducks available were sold for the event, allowing the humane society to pay out the maximum $10,000 prize to the winner. Ceyanna Olson’s duck was the first to reach the finish line.
The humane society retained the other half of the prize pool.
Rubber ducks were released from a loader on the Highway 47 bridge above the Souris River. From there, they floated a short distance down the river until they reached the finish line.
“The water was moving well, so the ducks were trucking along pretty well this year,” said humane society president Tayja Zimmerman. “It went pretty quickly. I think the ducks were done within 10-15 minutes.”
It’s a good thing the ducks moved quickly, because it was about -4 C at the time of the duck drop.
“Next year we’re definitely going back to an earlier duck date,” said Zimmerman, alluding to the fact that previous editions were held in September.
Ceyanna Olson’s duck was the first to cross the finish line, so she took the only prize. There was a close race between several front-running rubber duckies.
“I think there were four or five ducks that were pretty close. They started all clumped together, and then there was a couple – they must have been in the right current, because they all started inching towards (the finish line),” said Zimmerman.
One duck was right behind the winner.
The derby was live-streamed on the EHS’s Facebook page. People couldn’t gather at the Woodlawn Regional Park’s free park area to watch the derby like they have in past years, but they did see people across the river watching the derby.
Zimmerman said this year’s event might have been more successful than in past years because people have been trying to support more local initiatives since the start of the pandemic.
She noted the EHS posted Saturday morning that they had about a third of the ducks still available, and the last of the ducks were sold Saturday afternoon. People still called about purchasing a duck after the last one was sold.
“We’re glad that this fundraiser was able to be such a huge success,” said Zimmerman.
The funds raised through the duck derby will be directed towards building upgrades. The humane society would like to spend some money on its shelter and improve their yard for the dogs, so that there can be more dogs in the yard.
Also, they would like to attach a building that was donated to them by Ray Frehlick to the shelter building to create a communal cat room, freeing up some room and creating a better environment.
And they have the vet bills and the food associated with running a shelter.
