IKEA RENTON RIVER DAYS: Duck race raises about $23,500 for charities

By RUTH RUSSELL

For the Renton Reporter

The Renton Rotary Club's Rubber Ducky Race for the IKEA Renton River Days has raised about $23,500 for Renton charities, including those sponsored by the Rotary Club.

A total of 4,371 rubber ducks floated down the Cedar River on Sunday during the annual festival.

Renton Rotary President Terry Higashiyama, along with other Rotary members, launched the ducks from the Houser Way bridge.

The first five ducks to cross the finish line at the Wells Street Bridge –via a floating trap that allowed the ducks to enter one at a time – were the prize winners. Crowds lined the bridges to watch the ducks sail past. Each duck had a number written on the bottom that corresponded to a number printed on a ticket.

Lonnie Pells of Seattle purchased a $5 ticket shortly before the race started. “I have to beat my dad at the race,” she said. Her father, Conley Pells, is a Valley resident who wants “to help out charities.”

“It’s a unique event that has that Northwest flavor," Conley Pells said.

The duck race is a fund-raiser hosted by the Rotary Club to benefit local charities, according to Todd Lantz, Renton Rotary rubber ducky chairman.

Proceeds from past races have helped Operation Warm and Communities in Schools of Renton provide more than 1,000 winter coats for kids.

“Children pick their own coats,” said Lee Wheeler, retired chief of the Renton Fire Department and co-chair of the duck race. The event also helped fund free dictionaries “to every third grader in Renton schools,” he said.

Winners of the Renton Rotary Rubber Ducky Race, along with ticket number and prize, were: Linda DeCample, No. 58669, $1,000, cash donated by Renton Rotarians; Nancy Ragl, No. 57113, $750, cash donated by Renton Coil Spring Co.; Alan Bettcher, No. 59065, $500 gift card donated by IKEA; Gary Kohlwes, No. 56500, $500 gift certificate from King & Bunny’s Appliance; and Julie France, No. 5620, $400 gift certificate from Renton Western Wear.

Ruth Russell is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.

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