By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com
* Photo gallery – more than 250 images
* Complete list of winners
ROCKINGHAM — Duck 3781 is No. 1.
The duck, fostered for the afternoon by Buzz Parker, was declared “Super Duck” after being the first of approximately 4,200 plastic yellow ducks to cover the one-third of a mile float down Hitchcock Creek from the bridge closest to the Steele Street access point.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Jack Marks, 4, of Rockingham does his part to soak Talan Stoner, 9, in the dunking booth. Jack is a student at Sandhills Children’s Center.
Duck 3781, it turns out, is worth $1,500 to Parker. Ed and Kari Ross, fosters for Duck 2823, won $500. They were two of 56 prize-winning ducks that were a part of the second annual Duck Derby benefit for the Sandhills Children’s Center.
The remainder of the fastest 10 ducks:
3. John Mullen, 3995
4. Eng Vang, 3516
5. Randy Goodpasture, 2357
6. Easton Pigg, 2492
7. Ed and Kari Ross, 3819
8. Kenlee Autry, 3664
9. Greg Marks, 2696
10. Sandy O’Donnell, 3707
Payton Pope, 4, fostered the winning duck in the children’s race. She won tickets to Carowinds amusement park in Charlotte.
The two-hour affair at the epicenter of the Hitchcock Creek Blue Trail and Greenway featured concessions prepared by AMVETS Post 316, temporary tattoos at the Girl Scouts Troop 80 tent, face painting at the Beaver Dam United Methodist Church youth group’s tent, inflatables by LMO Paradise Rentals, booths by Discovery Place KIDS, American Red Cross and more.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
The winning Super Duck reaches the finish line.
The event stimulated job growth — at least for a couple of hours — as youth and adult chaperones filled the newly created positions of duck wranglers. They helped the staff and volunteers at Sandhills Children’s Center collect floataway ducks by kayak and canoe. One duck — No. 1492 — tried to slip away for an illegal head start, but it was quickly corralled by the duck wranglers and brought back to the first bridge to begin with the others.
There were some safety concerns that even OSHA couldn’t immediately address. One young wrangler wanted to know if Hitchcock Creek contained any “tiny little sharks.”
“No,” she was assured.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Spectators eagerly await the arrival of what they hope will be their duck at the front of nearly 4,200 plastic yellow ducks.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
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