The sun shined on rubber ducks floating along the Wallkill River this past Saturday for the anticipated Duck Derby.

The Duck Derby is a Vision of Wallkill (VOW) sponsored event in collaboration with the Wallkill High School Senior Celebration Committee. Together they raise money to support events for the Senior Class and to offer scholarships to graduating Wallkill Seniors who have volunteered and dedicated time to VOW events during the school year.

After attending a derby in a neighboring town, Co-chair for the event Donna Barczak immediately thought of doing it at the Wallkill River. “We thought, ‘This is really fun, and we have the river,’” Barczak said, who had fellow chair Julia Craner to help her plan and coordinate it.

The premise is as simple as it sounds. Rubber ducks float in the river and you hope yours is in the front.

To organize, people purchased rubber ducks which were then marked with a number. A total of 2259 ducks were entered in the race, and people lined up along the river to watch the ducks go. Volunteer kayakers and boaters went out on the river beforehand to place a finishline out of colorful pool noodles down, as well as carrying the ducks out.

The river was flowing north with a lot of wind, but some kayakers moved behind the ducks to help push them a bit to float towards the finish quicker. The whole race was about six minutes.

Kayakers were also ready at the finish line to collect all of the winning ducks. They helped clean up all the remaining ducks so none got lost in the river.

There were prizes for first, second and third place, as well as a prize for three random ducks and the last place, or “lame” duck. First place won $500, second $250, and third $100. The three random ducks and the lame duck earned Beck’s gift cards. First place went to Diana Smith, second place was Town of Shawangunk Board Member Brian Amthor, and third place was Dave and Donna Tompkins. The lame duck, which was last place, went to Ken Ronk, a Wallkill Volunteer Ambulance Corps EMT and Town Supervisor candidate. The random duck winners were Laura Buffy, George Thomas and Carl Zeitel.

Besides the race, there were many activities, refreshments and games for attendees to enjoy. There were rocks to paint, a duck flip, slime egg toss, guess the number of ducks, cornhole, a duck photo area and different booths with local businesses and groups. There was also a food truck, free ice cream from the Wallkill Lions Club and $2 hot dogs from the Wallkill Women’s Club. The Hudson Valley Reptile and Rescue also came with different reptiles.

As for safety, they had Wallkill Hook Ladder and Hose Company, Walden Fire Department and Water Rescue, Wallkill Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Town of Shawangunk Police Department there at all times.

All remaining funds from the event will be used towards future VOW-sponsored events.

VOW sponsors and hosts many events throughout the year. The Rhythm on the River Summer free Concert Series begins on July 6. Performances are on Thursday nights at 7 p.m. until August 10. Weekend of Wallkill will be on September 22 and 23, and Holidays in the Hamlet will be on December 2.