Castle Rock Rotary - DUCKY DERBY

Tickets for the Ducky Derby are now on sale on weekends at King Soopers in Castle Rock and Castle Pines North. Tickets also can be purchased from local Rotarians and will be available online through The Women's Crisis and Family Outreach Center, www.TWCFOC.org, later this month. Other ticket selling outlets will be announced later and tickets can be purchased at the Ducky Derby.

The Ducky Derby and Street Festival will be May 14 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Second and Wilcox streets in Castle Rock. Ducks will be launched in Plum Creek at about 3 p.m.

The event is the largest fundraiser of the year for the local Rotary clubs. Last year more than $40,000 was raised and given to local and national charities such as the Douglas County Task Force, Castle Rock Senior Center, the Women's Crisis and Family Outreach Centers of Douglas County, Crutches4Africa and others.

Those who buy tickets will have a corresponding number attached to the bottom of a little rubber duck. As the ducks cross the finish line, they will be corralled and the winning number will have a chance to win a $1 million annuity Grand Prize. The second place number will win a $3,000 First Prize. Many other prizes of merchandise and goods and services will be awarded to other ticket holders whose ducks finish in front of the pack in the dash down the creek.

Ducky Derby day will start at 11 a.m. with a street festival featuring food, beer, entertainment and booths from vendors selling arts, crafts and goods and services.

For the kids, entertainment will include such things as HawkQuest, the Buddy Center, Amberg Entertainment Inflatable bouncy castle and hoop shot and a Waddle Walk led by a giant duck.

There also will be music from the Castle Rock Orchestra, Charlie Miller Quartet, FLINCH, Renaissance Festival Players and other groups.

The Ducky Derby is strongly supported by local businesses who donate cash, prizes and in-kind services.

Intermountain Rural Electric Association is again the sponsor of the $1 million-duck, as it has been for several years. This year the Castle Rock News-Press is the official Media Sponsor of the Ducky Derby.

For more information go the Rotary Club of Castle Rock Website at http://www.rotaryclubofcastlerock.org and click on the links on the left side of the page.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Castle Rock Rotary clubs set 2011 Ducky Derby for May 14

Contact: Richard Bangs, PR committee (303-601-6069)

Feb. 4, 2011

Castle Rock - Rubber ducks will take to the water May 14 this year as the Castle Rock Rotary clubs present the 15^th Annual Rotary Ducky Derby and Street Festival.

This year's event, the largest fundraiser of the year for the clubs, comes on the heels of the most successful Ducky Derby ever last year when more than $48,000 was raised for local, regional and international charities.

The event, on Second and Perry streets in Castle Rock, includes a street fair starting at 11 a.m. that includes food, vendors, a silent auction, and entertainment. At 2 p.m. about 8,500 rubber duckies will be dumped in Plum Creek and race downstream where winning ducks will be pulled out of the creek. Each duck will carry with it the number of a winning ticket.

The first place duck will carry a Grand Prize winning ticket that will be eligible for a $1 million lottery chance. The top prize ticket will carry a $3,000 award. Other winning tickets will carry prizes comprised of goods and services donated by local and regional merchants. In 2010 there were about 375 prizes including such things at free dinners, rounds of golf and other goods and services.

Tickets will go on sale in March and be available on most weekends at Castle Rock groceries stores and other outlets.

In 2010 the Rotary Clubs donated winnings to The Castle Rock Senior Center, the Douglas Elbert Task Force, Crutches4Africa and Rotary International's Polio Plus program.

The Ducky Derby is a joint effort of the Rotary Club and Castle Rock and the High Noon Rotary Club. The clubs are part of Rotary International, a worldwide organization dedicated to the betterment of humanity by working to improve education, health and living conditions of people everywhere.

Press Release 2011

It's official! May is Ducky Derby Month in Castle Rock.

Castle Rock Town Council has proclaimed May to be Ducky Derby Month in Castle Rock. Accepting the proclamation from Mayor Ryan Reilly, center, were Ducky Derby Committee Co-chairs Renee Dixon, left, and Al Wonstolen.

The proclamation was read by Castle Rock Mayor Ryan Reilly and accepted by Rotary Ducky Derby Committee Co-chairs Al Wonstolen and Renee Dixon.

The 15^th Annual Ducky Derby and Street Festival will be May 14 between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. and is the largest fundraiser of the year for the Rotary clubs in Castle Rock. Rubber ducks with numbers attached will be floated down Plum Creek. Each duck will carry a number that matches numbers on tickets sold.

The Ducky Derby will start under the Interstate 25 bridge over Plum Creek at 3 p.m. The first duck to finish the race will be the Grand Prize winner and win the holder of that ticket number the chance at a $1 million annuity. The First Place finisher will win $3,000. More than 100 other prizes of merchandise and services will be awarded.

Last year, the event raised more than $48,000, which were distributed to local, regional and international charities, such as the Douglas Elbert Task Force, the Women's Crisis & Family Outreach Center, the Castle Rock Senior Center, Crutches4Africa, and others.

Reilly, while reading the proclamation, noted the event annually draws 3,000 to 4,000 people to downtown to enjoy Castle Rock and its streams and creeks. It also is an "event that embodies the spirit of ‘Service Above Self,'" the proclamation states.

During the street festival there will be food, drink, music and entertainment for the kids. There also will be a silent auction where goods and services can be purchased for the highest bid.

Local businesses have made contributions of cash and in-kind services to help the event succeed. Intermountain Rural Electric is the sponsor of the $1 million duck. The Castle Rock News-Press is the Media Sponsor for the event and the Douglas County Living magazine contributed in-kind services to help publicize the Ducky Derby.

Many other sponsors, to be listed later, contributed cash and others contributed merchandise to be used as prizes.

The Rotary Club of Castle Rock and the High Noon Rotary Club of Castle Rock are presenting the event. They are part of Rotary International, a worldwide organization promoting health, education, and sanitation in an effort to improve the lives of people.

Tickets for the event are being sold weekends at Castle Rock grocery stories and are available at Castle Rock Bank, from any Castle Rock Rotarian. Tickets also will be available at the event.

For more information about the event go to www.CRDuckyDerby.com. To be a vendor at the event, contact Ed Brewer at 720-937-2269 or by email at ejbrewer@peoplepc.com.

For event information, go to the Ducky Derby Event Information webpage. You can also follow event activity on Facebook as well by going to: Rotary Clubs of Castle Rock Facebook Group.