Kokomo — Long before the doors officially opened, and way before Papa John’s Pizza had to call for back up, the 12th annual Samaritan Caregivers Duck Derby was deemed a success by event organizers.
Around 6:30 p.m. Thursday, at the Kokomo Beach Family Aquatic Center, 804 W. Park Ave., people stood in line and waited for the duck races to begin at 7 p.m.
The only thing was there were still people in line waiting to purchase tickets — $5 admitted an adult and child for pizza, soft drinks and swimming — but tickets were long gone.
“I’d say before 6 p.m., we had given out all 1,400 of our ticket allotment. That means Kokomo Beach is at full capacity,” said Lisa Girton, president of the Samaritan Board of Directors. “We have gorgeous weather and people are out having fun.”
And the fun was for a worthy cause, said Samaritan’s executive director Jamey Henderson.
The annual event involves thousands of yellow, rubber ducks navigating and racing down the beach’s Lazy River.
This year, the fastest duck won $500. There were 10 other prizes worth $200 or more. Furthermore, for the second year, there was a chance for someone to win $50,000 if a pre-selected duck crossed the finish line in one of the first 10 places.
The derby is Samaritan’s largest fundraiser, said Henderson, and proceeds from the event support the organization’s programs.
Established in 1996, Samaritan Caregivers utilizes volunteers who provide free non-medical assistance to county residents 50 and older to help them maintain independent living, Henderson said. The organization is a member agency of the United Way Howard County.
Last year, Henderson said volunteers gave more than 3,000 rides to residents needing assistance and 400 people donated a total of 9,610 hours of community service.
Furthermore, 259 people received assistance from Henderson’s organization and most of those services went to single women — living at home alone — and most of those women were 85 years old or older.
The total amount raised during Thursday’s event was not available, but Henderson was hoping this year’s event would exceed “$20,000 or very close to it,” she said.
Henderson also thanked Leadership Kokomo which sponsored a Team Lucky Duck project and raised enough money to buy 100 dozen, or 1,200 ducks, that needed to be replaced.
Watching from outside the beach, with her face pressed against the beach’s fence, 8-year-old Marie Graham, held her own yellow, rubber duck and loudly cheered when the derby’s corporate Papa Duck race began.
Businesses paid $100 for a decorated duck to race in the Lazy River.
Graham’s cheers were loud, but not as loud from those standing near the Papa John’s Pizza truck when more pizzas arrived in the latter part of the evening.
“We’ve been with [Samaritan] the entire time,” said Chris Pate, Papa John’s director of operations. “They reached out to us in the beginning and we told them we would help out and help the community.
“Each year it gets bigger and bigger. Before [the more pizza arrived] we served 400 pizzas. Four hundred. That’s a lot a pizza, but this is a really good cause.”
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