News
This race is for the birds
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| Jason Walker and his son Nicholas, 11 months, watch as thousands of rubber ducks float by Saturday afternoon during one of the races at the Kiwanis Incredible Duck Splash 2007 at Verdugo Park. -- Alex Collins / News-Press |
Duck Splash raises more than $87,000 for local nonprofit groups to provide children’s services.
By Rachel Kane
As tails glistened a sunny hue with hundreds of spectators holding their breath at the finish line, 2,500 rubber ducks prepared to race.
They were the chosen ones, plucked out of 30,000 plastic, bobbing competitors, each assigned to a person who shelled out cash to back them in the 2007 Kiwanis Incredible Duck Splash.
Every year these smirking, sunglass-wearing ducks duke it out in one of the city’s most lucrative fundraisers for children’s services.
This year, the race raised more than $87,000, said Victor Legerton, secretary of the Glendale Kiwanis Club.
“It’s the collaborative benefit of the sponsors coordinating together in a fundraising rather than competing,” Legerton said.
The hardened, inanimate athletes of the duck race were plunged into the cool waters of a small, man-made lake on a warm Saturday afternoon in Verdugo Park.
While the ducks waited for their final moments of glory, people at the park circulated among the booths of some of the fundraiser’s sponsors.
There was a booth set up for the sale of duck race merchandise like T-shirts, hats, ties, mugs and key chains.
Volunteers scraped the bottom of the man-made lake in anticipation for the race. With $19,000 in prize winnings for the top ducks at stake, people were anxious for the last race of the day.
The top nine fastest ducks’ owners would win $1,000 with the first-place duck owner walking away with $10,000.
“Ooh, I wanna win,” said Vania Navasartian, 11, of Glendale. Her family had purchased six ducks for the race on Saturday.
“I at least want to win second or anything above 10th place,” Vania said, standing at the edge of the lake where the ducks were being dumped in by the hundreds from the scoop of a small tractor.
“There’s so many more,” she said as the tractor released a few hundred more ducks into the water.
Floating calmly in clustered unison they waited, all eyes watching, until the dam of the lake was lowered and the ducks rushed through a plastic-lined river to the finish line.
Slowly, one by one, the ducks were plucked out of a long tube that caught them on the end of their long journey down the river.
After reading out the names of the top duck-selling teams of the event, Kiwanis Club officials read the names of the winning duck racers.
The $10,000 winner, who was not in attendance, was Susan Tapia of the Hollywood/Los Feliz Kiwanis Club. Glendale Police Department’s own Lt. Carl Povilaitis was announced as one of the $1,000 winners.
“I never win,” Povilaitis said. “It’s always a donation.”
Even though he’s been participating in the event for years, he said he would most likely donate his winnings somewhere else, spread out over a couple of organizations.
The News-Press was a media sponsor of this event.
RACHEL KANE covers education. She may be reached at (818) 637-3205 or by e-mail at rachel.kane@latimes.com.
They were the chosen ones, plucked out of 30,000 plastic, bobbing competitors, each assigned to a person who shelled out cash to back them in the 2007 Kiwanis Incredible Duck Splash.
Every year these smirking, sunglass-wearing ducks duke it out in one of the city’s most lucrative fundraisers for children’s services.
This year, the race raised more than $87,000, said Victor Legerton, secretary of the Glendale Kiwanis Club.
“It’s the collaborative benefit of the sponsors coordinating together in a fundraising rather than competing,” Legerton said.
The hardened, inanimate athletes of the duck race were plunged into the cool waters of a small, man-made lake on a warm Saturday afternoon in Verdugo Park.
While the ducks waited for their final moments of glory, people at the park circulated among the booths of some of the fundraiser’s sponsors.
There was a booth set up for the sale of duck race merchandise like T-shirts, hats, ties, mugs and key chains.
Volunteers scraped the bottom of the man-made lake in anticipation for the race. With $19,000 in prize winnings for the top ducks at stake, people were anxious for the last race of the day.
The top nine fastest ducks’ owners would win $1,000 with the first-place duck owner walking away with $10,000.
“Ooh, I wanna win,” said Vania Navasartian, 11, of Glendale. Her family had purchased six ducks for the race on Saturday.
“I at least want to win second or anything above 10th place,” Vania said, standing at the edge of the lake where the ducks were being dumped in by the hundreds from the scoop of a small tractor.
“There’s so many more,” she said as the tractor released a few hundred more ducks into the water.
Floating calmly in clustered unison they waited, all eyes watching, until the dam of the lake was lowered and the ducks rushed through a plastic-lined river to the finish line.
Slowly, one by one, the ducks were plucked out of a long tube that caught them on the end of their long journey down the river.
After reading out the names of the top duck-selling teams of the event, Kiwanis Club officials read the names of the winning duck racers.
The $10,000 winner, who was not in attendance, was Susan Tapia of the Hollywood/Los Feliz Kiwanis Club. Glendale Police Department’s own Lt. Carl Povilaitis was announced as one of the $1,000 winners.
“I never win,” Povilaitis said. “It’s always a donation.”
Even though he’s been participating in the event for years, he said he would most likely donate his winnings somewhere else, spread out over a couple of organizations.
The News-Press was a media sponsor of this event.
RACHEL KANE covers education. She may be reached at (818) 637-3205 or by e-mail at rachel.kane@latimes.com.
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