CRESTVIEW — The Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Committee is getting its ducks in a row for a May 9 fundraiser benefiting the Foy Shaw Memorial Scholarship Fund.
The Dollars for Scholars Rubber Duck Race — which organizers hope to make an annual event — will see 1,000 rubber duckies cast into the Twin Hills Park pond. The winning duck will net its owner a $500 cash prize.
Proceeds will help fund three $1,000 scholarships presented to one graduating senior each at Baker School, Crestview High School and Laurel Hill School.
“And if we keep going the way we we’re going, we may be able to give more than a thousand in years to come,” Scholarship Committee chairwoman Pam Meadows said.
WHERE THE WIND BLOWS
To solve a natural but critical problem — Twin Hills Park’s ponds don’t have a current — the chamber turned to retired Troy University environmental engineer and professor Dennis Mitchell.
“What we’re going to do is set up trolling motors to create a current,” Mitchell said. “I’ve been testing them in my own pond.”
After surveying terrain around the park’s west pond, Mitchell determined the course should be set up east of the foot bridge. But which way the ducks will float is up to Mother Nature.
“It’s dependent on which way the wind is blowing that day," Mitchell said.
Mitchell and his team of nautical technicians have developed a race course defined by plastic foam swimming pool noodles. The ducks, which are each identified by a number, will be poured into a corral and stirred with a paddle.
“Then we’ll crank up the motors and release the ducks,” Mitchell said. “If we have a nice steady wind, we won’t even need the motors.”
'PEOPLE HAVE SO MUCH FUN'
Meadows said the duck race was the brainchild of Coastal Bank north Crestview branch manager Valerie Manley, who suggested it at a Scholarship Committee meeting.
“I have seen it done in other locations,” Manley said. “People have so much fun at these. I thought it’d be a good way to get the community involved” in scholarship funding.
The event will include static displays by Crestview Public Safety departments, with food and refreshments available, Manley said.
“I think it’ll be great fun,” Meadows said. “Tickets sales and sponsorships have been very good.
"Right now, all we need to worry about is the weather.”
WANT TO GO?
WHAT: Dollars for Scholars Rubber Duck Race
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 9
WHERE: Twin Hills Park east pond
COST: One duck, $5; three ducks, $10; seven ducks, $20; flock of 35 ducks, $75; Quack Pack of five ducks and a T-shirt, $25
NOTES: Cash prizes: first place, $500; second place, $150; third place, $50. Duck, food and drink sales benefit the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce Foy Shaw Scholarship Fund. Ducks available at Coastal Bank and Trust Crestview branches and the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce office, Commerce Drive (opposite the Community Center). Information: www.crestviewchamber.com or 682-3212.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview park duck race fundraiser benefits Foy Shaw scholarships