Arlington Rotarians are selling tickets for the service club's annual Stilly Duck Dash on the Stillaguamish River. The fundraising event is part of the city's Fourth of July Frontier Days celebration.
On Saturday evening more than 12,000 yellow duckies decorated with identifying bar codes will be dumped into the river at the Lincoln Bridge on the northeast corner of town.
People who buy tickets for a chance to win are given numbers for their ducks. The "owners" of the first 10 ducks through the finish line are awarded prizes. After the top 10 ducks are scanned, the club hands out checks. First prize is $5,000, second is $2,000, third is $1,000, and the remaining seven winners receive gift certificates to local businesses.
Duck Dash director Duane Rhodes said the event began about 21 years ago after the Rotary Club tried a variety of fundraisers with varying degrees of success. The club hit on the idea of the Duck Dash and contacted the state Gambling Commission for permission to sell tickets for the race.
To add incentive for people to participate, six random duck numbers are placed in a sealed envelope. If the first-place duck has a number that matches one in the envelope, the person with that duck wins $1 million. The odds of that happening are 400 million to one, but you never know, Rhodes said.
"Of course we have an insurance policy in case that ever happens," he said.
Two front-end loaders are set to dump the ducks at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. Boy Scouts from Troop 29 plan to assemble in canoes in the river to follow the ducks downstream to Haller Park. A boom across the river catches the ducks, or at least that's idea.
"One year we had a farmer from Silvana bring us a garbage bag full of ducks," Rhodes said. "It takes awhile to round them up. It's a bearcat. We've had to get fish nets and chase those things all the way to the freeway. "
Last year the club made $40,000 from Duck Dash proceeds, and Rhodes figures the club has made about $600,000 over the last 20 years.
The money is used to support the Stillaguamish Senior Center, scholarships at Arlington, Darrington and Lakewood high schools, Boy Scouts of America, Arlington Boys and Girls Club, the Arlington Food Bank and other nonprofit organizations.
"The Duck Dash is good for our club, because it requires that everybody help out," Rhodes said. "We believe our dash was the first of its kind in the state and we're proud to keep it going."
