It was a race to the finish line as 2,000 rubber ducks bobbed their way down the Beaver River on Sunday.
Celebrating its 27th year, the annual Ardmore Duck Race raised over $20,000 to support projects at Ardmore School.
Families watch as the ducks race down the Beaver River.
“This is amazing to see all of the community support. It’s not just the parent advisory committee or the student council that’s here, the staff are here, the community is out, even the concession is run by the Ardmore Community Society. We have people coming from Bonnyville, Cold Lake, Glendon, all of the surrounding communities are here for the event,” said school principal Ken Pshyk.
Organized by the Ardmore School Parent Advisory Committee (PAC), the duck race is the school’s main fundraiser of the year and helps to cover the cost of everything from swimming lessons, to year-end trips, and bus fees for events.
“We also give each of our teachers $500 every year to improve their classrooms. Things they’d be paying out of their pocket for, we give them $500 to help,” explained race chair Monika Iverson. “We’re starting an outdoor classroom project. That will be where a lot of our funds are going to be going for the next couple of years, so that we can have an outdoor space at our school that can be used throughout the summer and winter.”
Since starting almost three decades ago, the popularity of the duck race has gone up and down over the years. However, since setting the price of $10 per duck in 2005, Iverson expressed they’ve sold out every year.
Reighynn Pawlowski gets her face painted as a minion during the duck race activities.
“I don’t see an end to it because it’s a great fundraiser. Everybody loves it and it’s something different. I’ve been asked by schools around Alberta how to run the duck race. There are other schools seeing it and thinking it’s a great idea.”
Ardmore resident Edwin Inman has yet to miss a duck race in the last 27 years. This year, his constant support of the event paid off as he was one of the five lucky ducks.
“It seems to get better and better as it goes along, it gets more people all of the time,” said Inman, admitting he’s surprised to see just how big the duck race has become.
“When it first started, everybody kind of wondered about it. But, it really caught on and it’s great for the school.”
If you haven’t been out to watch the rubber ducks race down Beaver River, Inman encouraged everyone to mark it on the calendar for next year.
“It’s something different, it’s a nice afternoon out, and it’s quite enjoyable.”
