Racing rubber ducks return to Lake Glendale

Mark your calendars for the return of several thousand rubber ducks to race in Lake Glendale. The Kiwanis Club of Glendale is sponsoring the seventh annual “Kiwanis Incredible Duck Splash” to be held at the inflatable Lake Glendale in Verdugo Park, 1621 Canada Blvd., on Saturday, Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Kiwanis President Bruce Hinckley kicked off the regular Kiwanis Club meeting last Friday to launch the KIDS race event campaign. Quackie the duck mascot was introduced to great applause and many photos. The Club members then divided themselves up into teams to sell duck race tickets, and work on projects at the Duck Splash. Each member was challenged to sell 40 race tickets.

The Duck Splash is a fun family event with food booths, rides, games, entertainment, kids activities and face painting in the park. What happens to all the duckies? All the adopted duckies will be placed in Lake Glendale, which spins them around and around. At the end of the spinning a slide is opened in the plastic lake and the duckies roar down. The very first duck down the slide wins $10,000 for its adopted family. Ducks 2 and 3 each win $1,000, and ducks 4 and 5 each win $500. Duck 6 wins a big-screen HDTV.

You can adopt your own racing rubber duckies for only $5 each. How can you adopt a duck to be in this super race? Adopting a duck is very easy. You may log on to www.ducks4kids.org and click on the Adopt tab. Then you can buy all the ducks you want and pay by credit card, or click on the Teams tab and buy ducks from a friend. You may also call the Duck Sponsor Chair Toni Beck at the Glendale Kiwanis (818) 409-0755 for more information about duckie buying and sponsoring the event.

The goal of the Kiwanis Club this year is to sell 30,000 rubber duckies. At $5 per duckie, the Club hopes to raise $150,000 this year for more than 50 nonprofit organizations and schools in Glendale and neighboring cities throughout the Los Angeles County area.

Glendale Kiwanis Club meets at noon every Friday at the Glendale Elks Club, 120 E. Colorado St., Glendale. For information call Vic Legerton at (818) 354-8838.