"The Great Rotary Duck Race" Origin (1988)

What do an Irish Pub, Calgary, Alberta, Canada and Eugene-springfield Rotary Clubs share in common? ... "The Great Rotary Duck Race."

John Paquet, Executive Director for the Alberta Heart and Stroke Foundation, Canada, had been looking for ways to incorporate fund-raising activities for his association while creating community wide involvement. He developed the concept for a duck race at an Irish Pub in Ireland. Patrons enjoyed placing wagers on local races that employed the use of duck decoys. He returned home with the idea, transforming it into a duck race fund-raiser.

Sam Burke captured a similar vision for Eugene-Springfield that spawned "The Great Rotary Duck Race - 1988".

Because the Canadian ducks were very similar, to avoid the potential threat of future litigation over patent issues, Eugene's Arizona duck supplier painted black masks over the eyes.

Sam Burke reflects, "The first race came about because of Jim Torrey (the first Duck Race Steering Committee Chair) and people like him. Today, the duck race is like an institution. People expect it to happen every year."

Over the past 22 years, The Great Rotary Duck Race has sold a total of 939,196 ducks. This year, during our 2010 race, we will be selling our millionth duck and breaking five million in proceeds to fight child abuse!

©2010 The Great Rotary Duck Race