When Rob Nicholson first came to us with the idea of a Duck Race we laughed until we realised that he was absolutely serious, and then we panicked! Never ones to shy away from a challenge, the IMAGINE team began to do some research and soon realised what a great event this could be. Duck Races, for those of you not yet in the know, are a great method of fundraising for organisations worldwide and have become increasingly popular since the early 1990’s, with some derby’s featuring over 100 000 ducks in a single race! The ducks, are of course rubber ducks, so the proverbial hunt was on for any and all floatable rubber ducks in the great Johannesburg region, and this is how the IMAGINE Duck Race was born. Our inaugural Duck Race was held on the 24th September, Heritage Day in South Africa, and was by all accounts an absolute success! Our goal was to raise R10, 000 and we exceeded this target by raising R11, 675.
Before we even arrived at Cedar Lakes Estate, our chosen venue for the race, there were people queuing to purchase their racing ducks, by 10am the duck decorating table was alive with the hustle and the bustle of participants vying for, at the very least, a 1st prize for the best looking duck. It was a perfect day for Duck Racing, a light breeze and warm sunshine were in our favour, which made for a great day outdoors.
Aside from the main Duck Race the day was filled with games and competitions for all ages, from musical chairs and egg and spoon races to beer drinking contests for the young at heart. Thanks to all the great sports out there who participated in the fundraising games and to our judges, who were randomly picked out of the crowd and put on the spot, to perform some very serious arbitrating. As Sean Permuy announced the start of the kiddie’s race everyone, young and old made a mad dash to the water’s edge and the start line at the dam where the “baby” ducks took to the water. Kids and adults alike ran from one side of the dam to the other not wanting to miss the arrival of their Duck at the finish line. Cheering and excitement filled the air and was a joy to watch. The kiddie’s race was won by Martina Forsyth while 2nd place went to Kayla Feldman and 3rd place was taken by Lily Jane Corrigan – well done to you all! The most Creative Duck prize in this category went to Airyn Hollard. Airyn was unfortunately not present for the prize giving, so we still have her Duck Puppet prize and urge anyone who knows her to please contact us on info@imaginecharity.com to collect the prize.
The Individual Duck race was next and so again the water’s edge was filled with participants getting ready to launch their racing ducks. There was a no throwing policy on the day which actually led to the unfortunate disqualification of one contestant, luckily this quacker was drawn out of the Donate-A-Duck bag and won a prize, so didn’t lose all round. 1st prize in the individual race category went to Matt Benard, while 2nd place went to his sister Sydney Benard, 3rd and 4th places went to Nick Rabjohn and Denise Clark respectively with 5th place being a tie between Billy and Matt Hayward. The Most Creative Duck in this category went to Catherine Permuy who won a Clubhouse Voucher for R500 which she kindly donated back to IMAGINE charity to sponsor the beers for a beer drinking competition later in the afternoon. Thank you Catherine for your generosity!
Our last race was our Corporate Duck Race, with participants looking cool, calm and collected at the start line – but we know that the nerves were at an all-time high and reputations were on the line. Right from the get go, almost flying to the finish line was the simple, yet elegant blue SIS Global Duck, clearly designed to be a winner, followed by the Tier1 Consultants duck dressed in super hero’s cloak in 2nd place and 3rd place was the singing baby duck on a surfboard from Stafix. The Best “Dressed” Corporate Duck in this category went to The Chilli Tree whose duck wore a hat and was dressed in leaves. Thank you to the corporates; SIS Global, Tier1 Consultants, Stafix, The Chilli Tree, Dynamic Textiles and Crossman Pape & Associates for their participation and effort in this event.
Thanks to all our sponsors and volunteers below who helped us make the day a success:
Barnyard Theatre Cresta for the sponsored Barnyard Tickets and cd’s
Catherine Permuy for the wine hampers
Dfine Fitness for the boot camp voucher
Donovan Nicholls for playing Don Duck for the Day
Entertainment Books for an Entertainment Book
Gary, Lanser and their team for the wonderful cocktails, food and hospitality at the Clubhouse
Jane Corrigan and Lionel Abrahams for the excellent photography and videos of the event
Jaydon Gambon for taking care of the Ducks in the water making sure none went astray
LE party favours for supplying us with a jumping castle and waterslide for the day
Liesl van Heerden and Martie Nyman for manning the sales desk and games corner
Ralph and Lloyd Daniel for the live music that added to the festivities
The Cedar Lakes Clubhouse for a R500 voucher
Universal Music Studios for donating over 30 CD’s and DVD’s
A big thanks goes out to the Cedar Lakes Lifestyle Committee for allowing us to hold this event on their Estate and special mention to Jane Corrigan and Catherine Permuy who were instrumental in the organisation of the prizes on the day.
Our appreciation to Sean Permuy for playing emcee on the day, you commitment to IMAGINE is unwavering and we thank you.
Our appreciation goes out to Rob Nicholson as this Duck Race was his brainchild to raise funds for his Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge ride for IMAGINE. We will be adding this event to our annual events calendar so thank you Rob for your very valuable input and contribution to the charity.
Last but certainly not least we thank each and every person that participated in this inaugural event and hope to see you all at next year’s IMAGINE Duck Festival.
Written by Karey Hawley