What an EGGS-citing day we had today at our duck race! All the worries of thunderstorms and torrential rain melted away in the end with sight of the warm sun. As usual, thousands of our little yellow ducks were launched into the river at Canterbury’s Westgate Gardens, cheered on by enthusiastic spEGGtators! As one youngster summed up the event, “it’s been the funnest day ever!”
Our organisers, PP Tony Loughran, PP Viv Prichard, President Maxine Blades and PE Raj Dasan had been carefully following the progress of the predicted storm on the Met Office’s website over the last few days. At times the forecast had been quite ominous, but in the morning everyone was relieved to see that no rain was predicted for the duration of the race. Phew!
There were plenty of people in the gardens so the atmosphere was light and lively; as well as the weather getting brighter it was, of course, also the last day of Canterbury’s Great Stour Riverfest.
As usual, PP Mike Talbot and his team did a stellar job of getting duck sponsors. At times so many people wanted to sponsor a duck some people did have to wait in queue! PP Tim Brett (aka Mr Duck) turned up and did little wiggles and posed with happy families. Meanwhile PP Peter Hermitage QUACKed the usual jokes – with the FEATHER forecast getting a few more mentions than usual.
Once again, we were honoured to be joined by the Lord Mayor of Canterbury (Councillor Jean Butcher) and the Lady Mayoress (Di Baldock). We were delighted to see they were keen to sponsor some ducks too.
We are very grateful to all the volunteers who helped us today – particularly Ben and Allesandro from St John Ambulance Brigade (who manned the first aid tent in case anyone needed medical assistance), Dain and her team (who were in the water to keep the ducks on track), duck “sellers” and launchers, the duck recovery team who collected all the ducks at the and of the race, and of course the marshalls stationed all along the riverbank (our members, their families and members of Sunrise and Forest of Blean).
While the ground probably wasn’t dry enough for picnic blankets, several families seemed set up for a picnic to enjoy while cheering on the ducks. As usual, the ducks were launched off the bridge at Toddlers Cove with the help of the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress – to an enthusiastic countdown from the spectators. After the big yellow splash at the start the ducks made their way towards the finish, with youngsters cheering them on and calling out their duck numbers. Little stray ducks were guided back onto the course by the team led by Dain Lewis (all former members of Canterbury Lifesaving Club). A few swans and ducks along the way were probably a little surprised to see the vision of yellow – but they seemed fairly happy to share the river.
Spectators made their way alongside the ducks to see the race’s finish. We can’t say there was a burst of sudden speed from the ducks as the finishing line came into sight – but the audience certainly seemed EGGS-cited. Everyone cheered and applauded the winners as they crossed the finishing line!
Colanders and sieves were the high-tech gear used to collect the ducks back into large yellow buckets by the duck rescuers at the end. These year we don’t think we had any EGGscapees – though there was a fair bit of weed so one of two may have been missed. These usually come back to us over the next few days.
The Lord Mayor was there at the end with Peter as he announced the winning duck numbers: 1st (£250 prize) was no. 2165. It was followed by the 2nd prize winner (£100) no. 2907, the 3rd prize winner (£50) no. 277 and 4th (voucher) no. 2119. Well done to all of them!
The duck sponsored by Kent Wildfowling and Conservation Trust was the first of the red corporate ducks across the finishing line; the winners will receive champagne.
We won’t have the final figures yet on how much was raised – but know that the funds will be a great boost to the local and international causes we support. Thank you to everyone that came along and made the day such a success. Lots of people came up to say what a lovely time they had – which makes us very happy!
We couldn’t put on the Duck Race without the support of the many volunteers who gave up time during the build up to race day or who came along on race day. Apologies if we’ve missed anyone out:
Duck “sales” on race day and in the build up to the race (Mike Talbot’s team): Irina Marta, Roger Hickman, Tony Loughran, Andrew Barchi, Jim Gascoyne, Alan Mepstead, Sidney Denham, Gill Dixon, Alastair Scott and Heather Scott. Marshalls (Raj Dasan’s Team): Jane Loughran, Leslie Stephenson, Judith Stephenson, Brian Dobinson, Pauline Pritchard, Robert Yonge, Brian Dobinson, Graham Bough, Rajini Dasan, Dee Mepstead. Duck delivery & launch (Stephen Thompson’s team): Jarle Tatt, Viv Pritchard, Raj Dasan, Sidney Denham, Tony Loughran, Brian Dobinson, Neil Fraser, Graham Bough and other helpers. In the water: Dain Lewis and her team. Duck recovery (Martin Ward’s team): Rupert Williamson; Mark Esdale; Kevin Fielding; Sue Thompson, Phil Abbott and Richard Kemble-Cook.
A special thanks to Race Day Coordinator Viv Pritchard and Health & Safety and Safeguarding Officers Raj Dasan and Tony Loughran, A huge thanks to PP Tim Brett who looked as handsome as ever as Mr Duck and happily posed with families.
Many thanks to the Lord Mayor of Canterbury and the Lady Mayoress and their staff for supporting us. As always, thanks to Westgate Parks, Whitefriars and Canterbury City Council for various permissions.
We are delighted that members from other Rotary clubs were able to join us and would like to thank Sunrise in particular for the loan of their gazebo and the Tatt family for use of their van.
Thanks too to all those that helped spread news about the event whether it be on social media, print, the radio, or by word of mouth – including the Great Stour Riverfest team, Canterbury City Council, My Canterbury/BID, Visit Canterbury, Community Ad, Canterbury Kids, the Kentish Gazette and various Rotary Clubs and members.
Finally, our biggest thanks go to members of the public and local companies that either sponsored ducks or came along with friends and family to cheer the ducks and made the event such fun!
Picture: President Maxine Blades poses with Mr Duck (aka Tim Brett) Picture Credit: Rotary Club of Canterbury.
Further pictures / video clips from the duck race will soon be available on our Facebook page.
