O’Connell School Sixth graders playing their musical instruments with the orchestra at Carnegie  Hall and then touring the Visitors Center at Ellis Island. Close to two thousand rubber ducks floating down the Hockanum River. How are these activities related?  Simple, the money raised by the East Hartford Rotary Club Duck Race last year led to a $5,000 donation to O’Connell School which funded their visit to New York City.

For the past 86 years, the East Hartford Rotary Club has worked tirelessly to raise funds to support worthy projects in the East Hartford community. One of its major fund raisers the past three years has been the Annual Duck Race held this year on June 22 at Labor Field.  The Club works for weeks selling $10 Tickets for a chance to have a duck with your ticket number finish first in the race down the Hockanum River. The winning duck provides its $10 ticket holder with a prize of $5,000. The second place finisher is good for a $1,000 award and the third through fifth places pay out $250 each.

This year’s $250 winners were Karen Herman, Conner White, and a group of cafeteria workers at Founders Plaza; Theresa Rittlinger who bought the runner up ticket and was rewarded with a $1,000 cash prize; and first place went to long-time East Hartford resident and Director of the Circle of Life Dance, Arts for All non-profit organization, Reggie Barall, whose duck beat all comers to produce $5,000 for her own “Barall Family Grandchildren Education Fund”.

 

Just as real ducks look serene as they seemingly float down the river while they are paddling furiously underneath the surface, so too does the apparently simple duck race require weeks and even months of Rotarian and community activity.  The Rotary Club purchased 3,000 rubber ducks to use in this annual event and had to clean, sort and label each and every one. Thanks go to Dan and Betty Russell for offering their home for our sorting and labeling operations.  The Duck Race requires Town and State permits and strict accounting of all ticket sales. Thanks to Peggy Schoen for her massive data entry job which allows us to keep close track of sales and ensures that there is a duck ready for each ticket and that both unsold tickets and unused ducks are accounted for properly.

The key to a successful event is the sale of tickets, and Rotarians are urged to sell at least 20 tickets each. And many sold more than that. Continuing a streak that covers both our Golf Tournament and our Duck Race, our unquestioned top seller was once again George Agnelli, Sr. who alone was responsible for close to 400 tickets sold.

Equally important to ticket sales are securing community sponsors. We were fortunate to secure sponsorships from Galvin & Round, AFLAC, Nursing Services, Hughes & Hughes, Ed’s Tree Service, Environmental Services, AMP Radio, American Eagle FCU, 3D Asset Management, Lamar Advertising of Hartford, Woodland Auto Body, Rosebud L.L.C., Agnelli Real Estate, Anderson Jewelers, Goodwin College, D’Esopo  Memorial Chapel, and the ECSU Foundation.  Our Lead Sponsor was, once again, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft.  Our thanks go out to these sponsors.

Once the race was complete, the clean-up began. Several Rotarians, spouses, and three members of the Rotary Interact Club from East Hartford’s “Connecticut International Baccalaureate Academy” pitched in to wash and sort all the ducks who made the trek from the Walnut Street Bridge down the Hock to the finish line. Thank you, Radeana Hastings, Natalie Krebs and C. Lee from the IB Academy for your help.  And a special thanks to Alex Wisz, John O’Connor, Stu Harris, Dan Larson and others who spent time prior to the race cleaning up the river and setting up the berms that directed our ducks into the finish gate.  Finally our thanks to Mayor Marcia Leclerc, the Police Chief, the Public Works Department and the Parks Department for their assistance in making it all happen.

The East Hartford Rotary Club, under the leadership of President George Schoen and Event Chairman Alex Wisz, are proud of the success of this year’s Duck Race and are now busy planning for our Annual Golf Tournament in September.  For information on how you can support community projects by participating in the September 22nd Golf Tournament at the Manchester Country Club, contact co-chairs Bill Saunders at 860-648-2842 or George Schoen at 860-659-0129.