The Fall River may be crusted with ice, but the 2022 Estes Park Rotary Duck Race Festival is right around the bend. The Duck Race Festival Committee has just unveiled this year’s theme and major prizes. The list of participating organizations that the Race will benefit is complete, and major and associate sponsors are signing up to support the Race, with a sign-up deadline of March 15, 2022.
The 2022 event on Saturday, May 7, will capture the adventure of life in the Rockies and features mascot Lucky Duck delighted to be back in the river. The Festival will offer expanded activities at Nicky’s Steakhouse and George Hix Memorial Riverside Plaza, and a Duck Waddle 5K sponsored by the Estes Park Running Club. The Estes Park Rotary’s Friendship Card, a fundraising and discount program, will be offered for sale at Riverside Plaza on Race Day. (Contact epfriendshipcard@gmail.com for more information.) “Interactive activities for the kids, live music and other entertainment, merchandise sales, the Friendship Card, and thousands of small yellow rubber ducks floating toward the finish line will combine to make the Festival fun for all ages,” said 2022 “Big Duck” Beth Weisberg, adding “This is The Rotary Club of Estes Park’s largest fundraising and ‘fun-raising’ event of the year, a not-to-be missed Saturday in the mountains.”
The 2022 event will feature three major cash prizes and two three-night vacation stay packages with accommodations donated by Delaware North Parks and Resorts, parent company of The Ridgeline Hotel.
Grand Prize $8,000 cash
Second Prize: $5,000 cash
Third Prize: $2,000 cash
Vacation Stays:
Three-night stay for two in a suite at The Pine Lodge in Whitefish, Montana, located on the doorstep of majestic Glacier National Park. The resort offers comfortable year-round accommodations for guests traveling through Whitefish, Montana. This facility is situated alongside the Whitefish River, with many rooms boasting views of the surrounding mountain tops. Glacier National Park is a mere 25 miles away, offering an abundance of recreational opportunities. The package includes access to all amenities: continental breakfast, stand-up paddle boards, kayaks, bicycles, and a guided trip to Glacier National Park, including park entrance fees.
Three-night stay for two in a one bedroom/one bath Old Faithful Cabin in West Yellowstone, Montana. Clustered in five camp settings, this 50-cabin property provides a sense of community without compromising privacy. Old Faithful Cabin is minutes from the Park’s West Entrance and a short drive from Old Faithful. The package includes an all-day guided interpretive tour to Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park (choice of bus tour in summer or snow coach tour in winter), park entrance fees, box lunches, and dinner for two at the Branch Restaurant & Bar.
“Everyone loves to take a vacation, and these are wonderful places to relax and enjoy some beautiful National Parks other than Rocky Mountain National Park,” Weisberg said, adding “The vacation stay prizes will certainly add to the excitement for two lucky winners.”
The reason for the race? To help the 66 participating Estes Valley charities and non-profit organizations. The complete list of beneficiary organizations will be available on epduckrace.org beginning March 3, the day duck adoption sales begin.
“I am very excited about the number and quality of the organizations we will be supporting this year,” said Larry Williams, Duck Race Festival Organizations Chair, who coordinated selection of the beneficiaries. “We are welcoming some new charities and look forward to their participation.”
The generosity of sponsors makes the race possible, said Scott Thompson, who is leading the 2022 sponsorship effort. A Major Sponsor contributes $500 or more in cash or services to support race prizes. An Associate Sponsor kicks in between $100 – $499 in cash or services. This year there is a new category of sponsorship, the Named Sponsor, with a contribution of $5,000.
Claire’s Restaurant and Bar has stepped up to be Named Sponsor of the 2022 Duck Race. The company names and logos of Named and Major Sponsors, and the names of Associate Sponsors, will appear on Duck Race posters, the Duck Race website, and the Duck Race Facebook page. Posters designed by local artist Tim Buck will appear all over Estes Park in the weeks before the Duck Race.
“The goal for 2022 is to raise $135,000 or more in duck adoptions that will benefit the participating organizations that are selling them,” Weisberg said. For every $22 adoption sold, $19 goes to the beneficiary organization, with part of the balance going to online adoption platform fees, and the rest going to the Rotary Club of Estes Park to offset costs of the Duck Race. In the past 30 years, the Estes Park Duck Race has returned nearly $3 million to nonprofits and charities in the Estes Valley. “We are hoping to cross the $3 million mark this year,” said Weisberg