Duck race wins money for Buffalo Grove Rotary
For Rick Drazner, it was a “three-peat.”
For the third year in a row, Drazner outsold all others in the Rotary Rubber Duck Race in Buffalo Grove. He sold $1,050 worth of ducks for Monday's fundraiser, held during the final day of Buffalo Grove Days.
Last year, fellow fundraisers dubbed him the “big duck,” but Drazner nixed the title.
“I prefer to call myself the golden goose,” said Drazner, who is also a member of the Buffalo Grove Park Board.
This year's event had 1,000 ducks swirling around in a pool rather than racing in the creek as in previous years. When the plug was pulled, the water poured out onto a driveway, to the delight of several splashing children.
Eventually the water got low enough, and a few ducks popped out, winning monetary prizes for their owners. Fifty more winners received gift certificates.
“It's for a good cause,” said Stephen Legge, past president of the club. “We really do contribute to a lot of causes in this area and abroad.”
Donors paid $5 per duck with discounts for purchases of multiple ducks.
Rotary members decided to use a pool because during planning the creek was too dry to race ducks, and there are times when it is so high that debris could strike spectators.
“It's a first for the pool this year,” Legge said. “This year, unpredictable weather meant we would be unable to use the creek or it would be unsafe.”
The club participated in the festival by offering a bingo session and a pancake breakfast and marching in the parade. Rotary also made a financial donation to the event, sponsoring Monday as a special day for people with disabilities.
One of the people who took advantage of the events for those with disabilities was Kristine Stivers of Wheeling.
“She loves the music,” said her mother, Pam Stivers. “She went on the rides, but she really loves the music.”
The special day offers her 26-year-old daughter a chance to enjoy herself in a group without others staring at her, Stivers said.
Many of the activities during the fifth and final day of the festival were designed for children, with people of all ages taking part.
Long Grove residents Miles Olson, 17, and Jonny Lugthart, 15, got in the spirit by claiming a life-size balloon penguin from a balloon artist. They paraded it around, attached to their wrists — and debating who would get to keep it.