By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
What's more fun than playing with a little toy duck in the bathtub?
Racing thousands of yellow rubber ducks down the slide and around the cool water of the Lazy River at the Hays municipal swimming pool.
The eighth annual Hays Duck Derby, a popular fundraiser for Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters serving Ellis County, will be held 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Wed., August 9 at the Hays Aquatic Park.
"We sell between five and six-thousand ducks which will race in two heats, " said Jenny Bates, director of the Ellis County nonprofit group. "It's been an amazing community event hundreds of people turn out to watch."
The first 500 ducks to cross the finish line in those races are captured for the championship run.
The owner of the first duck across the final finish line wins the $10,000 grand prize.
There are nine other significant prizes to be awarded that night.
Supporters "adopt" their ducks with donations, from a single duck for $5 to a 25-duck colony for $100 bucks.
There's a separate kids' duck dash, with 1,000 ducks available at $2 each. All those ducks are usually adopted right away.
Prizes range from free rental of an inflatable jump house to mini-golf passes.
The most adventurous donors will participate in the "Sink or Sail! Cardboard Regatta," so named by last year's winner, High Plains Baptist Church.
Sponsored teams will construct water-worthy crafts of cardboard and "duck" tape and paddle them across the deep end of the pool. There's a $500 entry fee and prizes for the fastest boats. "They get pretty creative and pretty competitive," said Bates.
"We have lots of winners and lots to be given away, thanks to our many sponsors."
It's a wet, fun-filled summer evening that's grown to be one of the bigger fundraisers for the local Big Brothers Big Sisters.
There are currently 160 Big/Little matches in Ellis County.
"That means there are 160 children who are able to have that impact of having a Big in their life," Bates said.
"It's amazing there that many volunteers in our community who are stepping up and walking alongside children who are needing that kind of support in their lives."
The volunteers, who can be individual adults, couples, or families, are thoroughly screened and undergo a background check before they're accepted as Bigs.
The Duck Derby helps pay for the costs of that process.
"The children are facing some kind of adversity or struggle in their life and they need that extra support," Bates said, "someone who will be that consistent person in their life who is cheering them on and is in their corner."
Children are recommended for the program by parents or guardians, teachers, counselors, and social service agencies.
There are currently about 30 Littles on the waiting list for a Big.
Bigs agree to meet with their Littles at least twice a month for at least an hour.
The get-together might be something special like going fishing, or as simple as taking a pet dog for a walk.
The average match length is three years in Ellis County, Bates said, with the longest lasting 18 years.
Derby Ducks are available for adoption at several Hays businesses where you see a huge blowup yellow duck, and online at 4kidsake.org/duckderby.
