Going Quackers (Again)

Quack quack or rather duck, duck on the Nashua River this past Saturday.

That's because 8,3339 yellow rubber duckies floated down the Nashua River on Saturday. All were contestants in the 5th annual Duck Derby.

None of these were bathtub escapees. The Nashua Duck Derby was a planned swim event held every October (pandemic years aside). 

No ducks were harmed in this annual fundraiser by the Rotary Club of Nashua West. All were adopted at $5 for a single with discounts for a six-quack, quackers dozen, and flock of 25. Duck adoptions are not tax deductible. After the race, all adoptees are returned to the group.

Race day morning members of Nashua Fire Department set up a duck barrier

Early on race day morning, members of the Nashua Fire Department, working on the riverbank and in the water, stretched a plastic barrier below the Main Street bridge to prevent  contestants from escaping further down river. 

Over 8,300 rubber ducks were dumped into the Nashua River

Saturday, at 2 pm on a perfect weather day, thousands of duck contestants were dumped into the Nashua River. Onlookers gathered along the riverbank and the Main Street bridge to cheer the silent race entrants as the only quacking were human sounds.

This volunteer kayaker kept track of the lead ducks

Ducks raced floated to the bridge vying for the top duck spots which meant cash prizes for sponsors.  Race time was clocked at 9 minutes and 40 seconds (no word on whether this was a record time).

Lead ducks were scooped and returned to the judging table

Winners were retrieved by a designated kayaking volunteer. The top cash prizes were worth quacking about — $2,500, $1,000 and $500. Winners were notified after the race results.

After the race, many volunteer kayakers scooped up all other entrants

Ducks were scooped into rubber baskets on each kayak

The losers also raced ducks were scooped out by members of a Nashua kayak group. No rubber entrants remained in the river. The cleanup took much longer than the actual race.

Cleanup took much longer then the under 10-minute race

In case you were wondering, the racing career of these ducks isn't over. All contestants have a future race-win chance. After being collected, rubber ducks were dumped into containers and transported for cleanup, before flying off shipped to the next race destination. Duck races are fund raisers in other states. They were held when we lived in VA; friends in Oregon recently attended one. Most often, they are sponsored by a local Rotary organization.

This was not only a fun event on a summer-like (70℉) day, but a worthwhile one too. The Nashua Rotary Club uses proceeds from the duck adoptions to support over 40 local non-profit service organizations and charities, post-high school educational scholarships, regional projects, and international efforts for pure water. 

Unfortunately, we did not have any entries in the race, but cheered on all those who did.