Rubber ducks raise scholarship money

By Eric Seiverling

eseiverling@yourmvi.com

Everything was just ducky at Monongahela’s Noble J. Dick Aquatorium Sunday.

With the largest crowd the event has ever had, the Monongahela Rotary Club’s fourth annual Rubber Ducky Derby attracted contestants young and old to the aquatorium for a chance to win the river race.

More than 1,400 tickets were sold, and the event featured 2,000 rubber ducks being dumped into the river and riding the current with the help of some extra-long pool noodles to serve as an obstacle course.

All the ducks were numbered, and whoever had the ticket with the number matching the first duck to reach shore after their 100-yard journey was awarded a first prize jackpot of $1,000. Second place received $500 and third place got $250.

The first-place winner was Karen Plants and her grandsons, Isaac and Liam Bird. James Myers and Christine Salan were second, and third place went to Brooke Doleno.

The event was one of two major fundraisers for the Rotary, with the group’s golf outing in September being the largest of the year.

The events fund the Rotary’s two memorial scholarship funds, a $2,000 academic scholarship and a $1,000 technical school scholarship.

“As long as we’re in the black and not in the red, it’s a success,” said Rotarian and past president Jamie Roberts. “Our scholarships are based on activities because we’re a service-based organization. We’re looking for students who are looking to get out and be active in the community.”

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