For the first time in a few years the Kiwanis Club of Ozark Coast will be hosting a carnival during the Great Dam Duck Drop – and they’re looking for other organizations to get involved.
The carnival will be set up Saturday, Aug. 2 – the day of the Duck Drop - at Two-Bit Town at the top of the Bagnell Dam Strip. Reese Development is donating the use of the space for the carnival.
Marilyn Allen, one of the organizers, said the Kiwanis Club will provide bounce houses and they’re inviting other non-profits to bring some sort of game or activity for children “because the whole idea is to bring back the carnival atmosphere they had when the Duck Drop started. Kiwanis will also have a ring toss – so we’re looking for games like you’d see at a school carnival. I’m not sure on the exact space but I’m guessing that we’ll have room for around 20 booths,” Allen said, adding that all the activities and the booth space will be free of charge.
Kiwanis members will sell tickets to ducks until 11 a.m. The ducks sell for $5 each or five for $20.
They also plan to have a mobile digital billboard truck with a large LED screen on site so attendees can watch the race from the carnival instead of from the banks of the river. The area below the dam, where the event was previously held, is not available this year.
As in the past, at noon ducks will be dropped simultaneously from a helicopter and from boats into the Osage River just below Bagnell Dam. The finish line will be between the dam and the Bagnell Dam Access boat ramp.
The winning duck’s ticket holder will receive $5,000 cash, the ticket holder of the duck that comes in second will get $1,000 cash and a $500 shopping card to Hy Vee will go to the third place winner. The last duck to cross the finish line will win a gift certificate for its owner. The winners will be announced by 1:30 p.m. and ticket holders do not have to be present to win.
Allen said that after the race ends, volunteers in a pontoon boat, provided free of charge by Freedom Boat Club, and on PWCs will help collect the ducks for reuse the following year, “and we still need a few more people on PWCs to help us scoop up the ducks. We do a pretty good job of collecting them - very few have escaped over the years – but it’s quite a job if you don’t have much help.”
Preparation for the event is also pretty labor-intensive.
Allen said they keep track of every numbered duck – who bought it and their contact number. “When we get ready to bag them to put in the helicopter and boats, we meet at Faithbridge Church and we start by sorting them by thousands, then hundreds before we check them off to make sure every single duck is there. Then we dump them in a pile and mix them all up - and we’re talking about a lot of ducks here,” she quipped. “Last year we sold right at 3,000 but we’ve sold up to 5,000, so as you can imagine, we have spread sheets like crazy. Thankfully we’ve had students from School of the Osage help us and they’re greatly appreciated.”
The money raised at the Duck Drop, as well as half of the money raised at the Quacky Golf Tournament, will be used to provide four $1,500 scholarships to seniors at School of the Osage and $30,000 in grants to organizations that assist children. The other half of the golf tournament proceeds will go to the Lake Area Big Brothers Big Sisters.
The tournament is set for Sunday, July 27, at Bear Creek Valley Golf Club. The 4-Person Scramble has an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start with check-in starting at 7:30. A lunch and awards ceremony will follow.
“The golf tournament is really a lot of fun,” Allen said. “We’ll have ducks and other obstacles on the course that golfers will have to play around to make it more challenging – and wacky.”
Organizers are still looking for sponsors and golf teams. Call 573-825-8135 to sign up. Visit https://greatdamduckdrop.com or email ozarkskiwanas@gmail.com for more information or to volunteer.
