Lacey Rotary’s dash will still be ducky, even without the rubber waterfowl

No ducks will dash at the Lacey Rotary’s 30th annual Duck Dash, happening Saturday at the Thurston County Fairgrounds — but the fund-raising and the fun will go on with kids’ activities, entertainment and food.

Since 1990, the Rotary has released as many as 12,000 numbered rubber ducks into the Deschutes River at Tumwater Falls Park, with the fastest floaters winning prizes for their ticket holders, whose purchases help the Rotary raise as much as $60,000 for nonprofits and scholarships.

“This year, instead of having dashing ducks, we’re just going to pull tickets out of a bingo drum,” said Mitch Dietz, the Rotary’s public relations director.

The change came because cleanup is ongoing after contaminated oil spilled into from an old Tumwater brewery transformer into the Deschutes on Feb. 25. Part of Tumwater Falls Park also is closed for construction of a new fish hatchery.

Fortunately for dash devotees — about 1,000 of whom show up each year — the faux fowl were never the only attraction.

“It’s still the same awesome, fun, kid-oriented event,” Dietz told The Olympian. “We have a bouncy house and a slide and face painting. And we give away 20 bicycles in a free raffle. … That’s probably our most popular event.”

This year’s dash also will feature free pony rides, a petting zoo, a trout pond, 4H dogs, a firetruck and a SWAT vehicle, he said.

There’ll be plenty of fair food for sale, too, including barbecue, elephant ears, snow cones and cotton candy. High school bands will provide the soundtrack throughout the day.

And, of course, there’ll be the opportunity to help nonprofits such as the Thurston County Food Bank, the Olympia Free Clinic and Lacey Loves to Read.

“The whole point of this thing is to sell tickets, raise money and support the community,” Dietz said. “Our goal is to get $60,000 back into the community every year.”

All event proceeds go to local and international nonprofits and scholarships for North Thurston Public Schools students.

It’s not yet clear whether the ducks will return to the Deschutes River next year. But either way, at least some of the ducks will ride again.

“We share our ducks with Kelso Rotary,” Dietz said, “and they put 5,000 ducks into a cement mixer.”

That event — the Quacker 5000 — happens each September as part of the club’s Highlander Festival.

Duck Dash

• What: The Lacey Rotary’s 30th annual Duck Dash won’t have ducks this year, but the fundraiser will go on with food, entertainment, kids’ activities and a drawing to raise funds for local and international nonprofits.
• When: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, June 1
• Where: Thurston County Fairgrounds, 3054 Carpenter Road SE, Lacey
• Cost: The event is free. Entries in the drawing are $5 each.
• More information: laceyrotary.org

This story was originally published May 29, 2019 at 4:41 PM.