PORT ANGELES — A deluge of 28,085 yellow rubber ducks hit the pond at Lincoln Park promptly at 2:30 p.m. Sunday as the 23rd Annual Great Olympic Peninsula Duck Derby got under way.
But after a pileup at the finish, the first three luckiest duckies ended up being owned by people who work for the companies that donated the top three prizes.
LIST OF WINNERS, BELOW
A duck registered to Jason Herbert of Port Angeles was the first to enter the winner’s tube.
Herbert, general manager of Wilder Honda in Port Angeles, will have the choice of winning either a 2012 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck or 2012 Toyota Corolla.
There is no rule against employees from donating companies winning prizes, and Herbert will receive the prize as a private entry, said Bruce Skinner, executive director of the Olympic Medical Center Foundation, co-sponsor of the derby.
Contacted Sunday, Herbert said he had no comment regarding his win.
The derby, which raises money for the OMC foundation and the Sequim Rotary Club — each duck ticket cost $5, or $25 for 6 — was held at Lincoln Park instead of Nippon Paper Industries USA’s canal, where it has been held in prior years.
The main race was preceded by the Bub and Alice Olsen Very Important Duck Race featuring special ducks purchased for $250 or $500.
More than 300 spectators lined the banks of the pond at Lincoln Park, enjoying the sunshine and 74-degree temperature at the time of the duck drop.
Kevin Best of Port Angeles and his children — Grace, 15, Aubrey, 13, and Josh, 21 — hid from the sun under some trees while waiting for the ducks to shove off.
It was a perfect day for the duck race, the family agreed.
At exactly 2:30 p.m., the ducks descended from a dump truck, down a wooden ramp and into a section of the pond divided off for the race.
The ducks made it about two-thirds of the way across by momentum alone but ended up needing some help from two Port Angeles Fire Department firefighters, who used fire hoses to push the ducks the rest of the way across.
“It’s a little like breaking up a riot of ducks,” Kevin Best observed.
At the other end of the pond, a duck-jam blocked the tube used to sort the winners, but eventually, with some “persuasion,” 42 ducks managed to make their way through to be bagged and tagged as winners.
In an odds-defying turn of events, two of the top three prize winners went to major donors of the duck race.
Second prize — $1,000 in cash — was won by the duck bought by Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.
Third prize — $500 in cash — was won by Liz Mueller, also of the Jamestown S’Klallam.
The 7 Cedars Casino, which donated the cash prizes, is owned by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.
Allen and Mueller said they will donate their winnings to the OMC foundation, Skinner said.
PORT ANGELES — Here are the winners of Sunday’s 23rd annual Great Olympic Duck Derby:
Main race
1. Grand prize, winner’s choice, 2012 Toyota Tacoma pickup or 2012 Toyota Corolla from Wilder Toyota-Scion, value $15,000 — Jason Herbert, Port Angeles.
2. $1,000 in cash from 7 Cedars Casino — Ron Allen, Jamestown S’Kallam tribe. (Allen will donate the money to the Duck Derby, Skinner said.)
3. $500 in cash from 7 Cedars Casino — Liz Mueller, Jamestown S’Klallam tribe (Mueller will donate the money to the Duck Derby, Skinner said.).
4. $175 gift certificate at Thomas Building Center from Sequim Rotary Club — Craig Davidson, Port Angeles.
5. Round-trip ticket on the MV Coho, and a night’s lodging at Strathcona Hotel in Victoria, from Blackball Ferry Line, $424 value — Ed Ebling, Sequim Health and Rehab.
6. Six-yard load of top soil and 6-yard load of budget bark from Lee’s Creek Landscape Materials, $300 value — Windermere Real Estate, Port Angeles.
7. Dinner for two from LD’s Woodfire Grill, $100 value — Chuck Parrish, Primo Construction, Inc., Sequim.
8. Six-yard load of gravel from Lee’s Creek Landscape Materials, $300 value — Sylvia Johnson, Sequim.
9. Men’s golf shirt and sweater, value up to $150, from Necessities and Temptations — Bill’s Plumbing, Sequim.
10. $100 gift certificate from Forks Outfitters — John and Gail Ralston, Ralston & Ralston Insurance.
11. $100 gift certificate from Bella Italia Restaurant — Wild Birds Unlimited, Gardiner.
12. $100 gift certificate from Baby Grand — Robert Lien, LaPush.
13. Year of lube and oil from Ruddell Auto Mall ($152) — Mike Cardoza, Port Angeles.
14. $100 gift certificate from A Brewed Awakening — David and Marcia Chance, Port Angeles.
15. $100 gift certificate from Gross’s Nursery & Florist — Dr. Paul Cunningham, Port Angeles.
16. $100 gift certificate from Gross’s Nursery & Florist — Frankfurth Auto Body and Towing, Sequim.
17. $100 gift certificate from Swain’s General Store — Beal Carpet and Drapery, Sequim.
18. $100 gift certificate from Washburn’s General Store, Neah Bay — Westport Shipyard Employee [Fund], Port Angeles.
19. $100 worth of gasoline from Bob’s Chevron — Sarah Pecoraro, no city listed.
20. $100 gift certificate from Washburn’s General Store, Neah Bay — Rhonda Cole, Forks.
21. $100 worth of gasoline from Lovell’s Roadrunner 76 — Dave Bennett, Kent.
22. Wash and wax for a year from First Race Car Wash, $399 value — Mark DeRousie, Port Angeles.
23. $230 in cash, 23rd Duck Derby anniversary prize from 7 Cedars Casino — Platt Irwin Law Firm.
24. $100 gift certificate for Double Eagle Steak and Seafood or Stymie’s Bar and Grill from Cedars at Dungeness golf course — Mike Steim, Port Angeles.
25. $100 gift certificate for Dockside Grill in Sequim from Sequim Rotary Club — Sound Bike and Kayaks, Port Angeles.
26. $100 gift certificate for Adrian’s Restaurant in Sequim from Sequim Rotary Club — Harlan Winslow, Port Angeles.
27. Family bowling package, Laurel Lanes, $70 value — Peter Fogliano, Los Angeles, Calif.
28. $100 gift certificate for Alder Wood Bistro restaurant in Sequim from Sequim Rotary Club — Susan Breitbach, Port Angeles.
29. $50 gift certificate from Chestnut Cottage restaurant — Mona Pelesky, Westport.
30. $50 gift certificate from The Oak Table restaurant in Sequim — Jim Pickett, Sequim.
31. $50 gift certificate from Chestnut Cottage restaurant — Tim and Tracy Lovell, Port Angeles.
32. $50 gift certificate from The Oak Table restaurant in Sequim — Julie Hatch, KayBank, Port Angeles.
33. $50 gift certificate from Fiesta Jalisco restaurant — Larry Breitbach, Port Angeles.
34. Craftsman drill combo from Sequim Sears, $100 value — Altagracia Sanchez, Neah Bay.
35. $50 gift certificate from Bushwhacker restaurant — Milgard Manufacturing, Tacoma.
36. $50 gift certificate from NAPA Auto Parts — Sylvia Strohn, Mack’s Ceramics, Port Angeles.
37. $50 gift certificate from C’est Si Bon restaurant — Tim Kirby, Sequim.
38. $50 gift certificate from Chinook Pharmacy in Forks and $25 gift certificate from Leppell’s Gifts in Forks — Bryan Turner, Sequim.
39. $50 gift certificate from Drake’s U-Bake Pizza and Subs — Tom Gagnon, Port Angeles.
40. Dinner for four from Blue Flame BBQ, $60 value — Bill Littlejohn, Olympic Ambulance, Inc., Sequim.
41. Fishing hat with salmon, steelhead and trout lures from Brian’s Sporting Goods in Sequim and Sequim Rotary, $100 value — Linda Flotto, Port Angeles.
42. $100 in cash from 7 Cedars Casino — Castell Insurance, Sequim.
Bub and Alice Olsen Very Important Duck Race (before the main race)
First place, $500 — Gary Lange, DDS, Sequim.
Second place, $250 — Peter Lavelle, no city listed.
Third place, $100 — Rocket Transportation, Sequim.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
