32nd Annual Estes Park Duck Race Festival will be virtual

Planners to announce online event schedule in mid-August

With a mixture of regret and excitement, the Estes Park Duck Race Festival Committee has decided to host a virtual experience on Saturday, Sept. 19 instead of an in-person event.

“We surely feel regret because the global pandemic forces us to find a new way to move forward safely with the 32nd Annual Estes Park Duck Race,” said ‘Big Duck’ Karen Thompson. “But as soon as we decided to have a virtual Duck Race, we started to see so many new and thrilling possibilities that we are now very excited!”

Details are being developed that will ensure the race is accessible online, entertaining for those who tune into the livestream, and rewarding for the 67 Participating Organizations that are busy selling Duck Adoptions.

The virtual event will feature a live Tail Spin Drawing of the major prizes and hundreds of Duck Buck certificates for local merchants.

The Major Prizes include:
• Cash Prize: $2,000
• Cash Prize: $1,000
• Travel Prize: 3-night stay for two at the Pine Lodge on Whitefish River near Glacier National Park
• Travel Prize: 3-night stay for two at the Explorer Cabins at Yellowstone National Park
• Travel Prize: 3-night stay for two at Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite National Park.
All travel prizes include extras, which vary between the resorts. Travel prizes have been provided by Delaware North, the lodging and concession corporation that includes the Ridgeline Hotel in Estes Park.

“Delaware North has graciously extended the expiration dates for the travel prizes to 2022, which means the winners will have extra time to plan a safe trip,” Thompson said.

Duck adopters will have the chance to win hundreds of prizes valued at $20 and up. The difference is that this year the merchants aren’t donating the prizes. Most of the prizes, called Duck Bucks, will be provided by the Duck Race Committee and generous donors and can be redeemed at our local businesses. “We think it’s time to help our merchants, too,” Thompson said.

Major ($500) and Associate ($100) sponsorships make the prizes possible. Sponsorships are either paid or in-kind, which includes donation of goods or services equal or greater than the cash amount.

Major sponsors to date include: Alpine Gardens; Arthur J. Gallagher; Bank of Colorado; Bank of Estes Park; Briggs Carpet Care; Cheley Colorado Camps; Chrysalis At The Stanley; Claire’s Restaurant and Bar; Dallman Construction Company; Design Center of Estes Park; Dunraven; Eagle Rock School; Edward Jones; Estes Park Dental; Estes Park Health; Estes Park News; Estes Park Trail-Gazette; FrontDesk, Inc., Ron Gordon; Inkwell & Brew; John’s Well Service; Key Bank; Kinley Built; Local Herd Studios; Mountain Music Arts and Culture Magazine; Nicky’s Steakhouse; Premier Members Credit Union; Quality Inn; Rambo’s Longhorn Liquor; ReMax Mountain Brokers; Ridgeline Hotel/Delaware North; The Rock Inn Mountain Tavern; Rocky Mountain Dumpsters; Shotts, Merryman & Company; Pete and Stephanie Sinnott, State Farm Insurance; TDS Telecom; The Egg of Estes; Timberline Medical, Town of Estes Park, U.S. Bank; Westover Construction; The Wheel Bar; and YMCA of the Rockies.

Associate Sponsors to date include: Airbits LLC; Alpine Legacy Real Estate; Wayne Andersen; Aspen Brook Investments; Aspen Eye Center; Bart’s Liquor; The Bear’s Den; Big Horn Restaurant; Bird and Jim; Boyatt Glass; Chelito’s Mexican Restaurant; Coldwell Banker Estes Village Properties; Docter Construction; Dollar General Store; Ed’s Cantina and Grill; Elkhorn Law, LLC; Estes Angler; Estes Park Chiropractic; Estes Park Pet Supply; Glacier Creek Construction; Ron Gordon; The Imaging Center; La Cocina de Mama; Lakeside Mechanical Service; La Mexicana Carniceria and Mini Market; Ron and Sharol Little; Loveland Steam Laundry; O’Reilly Auto Parts; Park Properties, LLC; Longley Parker; Jim and Robin Scritchfield; Peter and Stephanie Sinnott; Poppy’s Pizza and Grill; Rocky Mountain Pharmacy; Rocky Mountain Discount Liquors; Scott Thompson, Real Estate Advisor; Sticks-N-Stones; Stone Electrical; and Summit Church.

“These are different times, to be sure, but this situation has given us the chance to ‘think outside the nest’ and do some things differently, Thompson said. “The Duck Race volunteers will do everything we can to make this the very best Duck Race ever!”

By Rita DuChateau, Rotary Club of Estes Park