SPLISH SPLASH … Nearly 300 ducks raced across Stoney Ridge’s pond in 2022. (PHOTO PROVIDED)
By: Amy Wendt
What started as a fundraiser in response to COVID restrictions in 2020 has grown into a bigger and better event each year since.
Sarah’s Friends 4th Annual What the Duck? Rubber Duck Race will be held on Saturday, May 20th at 6:30 pm at the Stoney Ridge Winery from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm.
Sarah’s Friends is a non-profit that provides compassionate support and individualized services to victims of crime in Williams County to help them heal emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
“According to Katie Shaffer, Executive Director of Sarah’s Friends, “The whole concept came about in 2020 because of having to shut off our normal fundraising…golf outing and in-person events.”
“It was just something really simple and kind of cute at a time that was just awful. Our community has just rallied around us and supported, and we’ve been able to continue to grow this event in the three years that we’ve held it.”
The Rubber Duck Race involves racing hundreds of rubber ducks across the pond of Stoney Ridge Winery.
The ducks are numbered and sold to participants before the race and this year will be available on the day of the event as well.
The launch will be at 6:30 pm and the race will be live streamed on Sarah’s Friends Facebook page for those who cannot attend. The first duck to cross the finish line is declared the winner and wins a cash prize of $250.
For those who want to support their duck in person, the Stoney Ridge winery will be providing live entertainment beginning at 5:30 pm and the venue will also be donating a portion of their flatbread and slushie sales to the organization.
Attendees will have the opportunity to visit some lucky Sarah’s Friends board members and other volunteers at the Duck (dunk) Tank and there will also be a 50/50 raffle onsite.
To participate in the event, ducks may be purchased either online at sarahsfriends.org or in person at Sarah’s Friends, 201 S. Main Street, Bryan.
“It’s a very simple and easy way to give to a nonprofit and for a chance to win. It’s just $10, which for a lot of people, it’s just a drop in the bucket in a day, but it is so huge for our program and the people that we serve,” noted Shaffer.
Shaffer offered, “Thank you to the community. We’ve been around 31 years now and it still amazes me how much support is just really wrapped around us, and our community really does value the mission that we serve.”
Amy can be reached at amy@thevillagereporter.com
