Racing ducks now available for adoption

David Kronke , The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
Updated ·3 min read

Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun — adorned in a sporty tie festooned with drawings of ducks — adopted the first rubber duck that will race in Catholic Charities Terre Haute’s seventh annual Rubber Duck Regatta.

Ducks will race in a new fashion this year, explained Catholic Charities Assistant Agency Director Jennifer Tames on Friday morning at Fairbanks Park in announcing the opening of duck season in the area.

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Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun fills out a form on Friday at Fairbanks Park to adopt the first duck that will race in Catholic Charities Terre Haute’s Rubber Duck Regatta.

In the past, 15,000 ducks were ceremonially dumped into the Wabash River, which presented a number of challenges in wrangling all the ducks and getting them out of the water, challenges exacerbated when the river was either too high or too low.

This year, the July 4 event will see ducks cascading down a 150-foot-long waterslide located on the north end of the park near the Oak Street entrance. Rose-Hulman assisted in the creation of the waterslide.

“It’s still going to be the spectacle that people want to see from the Duck Regatta,” Tames said.

The Rubber Duck Regatta is Catholic Charities’ largest fundraiser of the year, allowing the nonprofit to provide more than three million meals annually in a seven county area.

People can adopt ducks for $5 apiece, or get a “Quack Pack” of six for $25, 12 for $50 or 24 for $100. Each duck is numbered, and one is selected as the winner — whoever adopted that duck wins $10,000.

Ducks can be adopted at duckrace.com/terrehaute, and the form needs to be filled out by July 1.

Eric Halvorson, a spokesman for Kroger which has sponsored the regatta all seven years, said, “The Rubber Duck Regatta is a fun way to address a serious problem,” adding that all of the food banks that Kroger assists have seen both an increase in demand and a decline in donations.

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This year’s 15,000 rubber ducks won’t float down the Wabash River like in years past but will travel down a waterslide near the Oak Street entrance at Fairbanks Park.

Sakbun — who said he would not be wearing the duck tie when he gave his State of the City address next month — spoke of how the city relies on the Catholic Charities Foodbank before he adopted his duck.

“I’m a Quack Pack kind of guy,” he said as he filled out the donation form.

As he did so, Waddles, the regatta’s mascot, pumped his wings in victory over his sizable head. Waddles had recovered handsomely from a mishap earlier in the day when his pants would not stay up.

Adopting the winning duck, Sakbun joked, offered “better odds here than at the casino.”

“I never thought I’d say this,” said Halvorson, also sporting a duck tie, “but adopt a duck today.”