By Linda Jones
The Peak to Creek Duck Race in North Clear Creek (alongside the Mardi Gras Casino) next Saturday, July 24, is unique among duck races. This race is really two races, a typical Citizens Duck Race with small pink, yellow and blue duckies floating to the finish net and a Sponsor’s Race with large, costumed ducks swimming to win the First Place trophy for their casino. The fun begins when the band starts playing at 1 p.m. on the patio of the Mardi Gras; the actual races float off at 2 p.m.
All the duck fleets decorated by sponsoring casinos will be displayed on the Mardi Gras patio and visitors will each receive one ballot to vote for Best Dressed Fleet. The casino that receives the most votes will have the honor of displaying the Best Dressed Fleet traveling trophy for the next year, an honor the Mardi Gras won at last year’s race. The ducks are quite a sight wearing their designer fashions. In the six-year history of the race, duck fleets have been costumed as can-can dancers. NASCAR racecars, railroad engineers, construction crews, chefs, Mardi Gras revelers and replicas of the Quackson Five, complete with strobe light, microphones, afros, instruments and a stage.
The public can also purchase duck adoption certificates on the Mardi Gras patio for $5 each; QuackPacks of six are available for $25. The duck that comes in first in the Citizens Race will win $1,000 for their adopter. Other prizes include a season ski pass to Eldora Mountain Resort, tickets to a 2011 Central City opera, discounts at businesses, meals at casinos, an authentic Indian necklace and more.
The Peak to Creek Duck Race is sponsored by the Peak to Peak Rotary, with a membership that includes Central City, Black Hawk, Rollinsville and Nederland. Like all Rotary clubs, the focus of Peak to Peak Rotary is “Service Above Self.” Rotary International is the world’s largest service organization, with 1.2 million members on every continent. The local Peak to Peak Rotary gives to service projects worldwide and across our state, but the funds raised through the race specifically fund local youth projects: foreign exchange students, a high-school service club called Interact, Rotary Youth Leadership camps for junior-high and senior-high students from both Gilpin and Nederland schools, sports equipment and backpacks filled with supplies for the Gilpin and Nederland schools, scholarships for each school and more.
