FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

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Daily Sitka Sentinel

Hunt on For Lucky Duck In Rotary Event

By TOM HESSE

Sentinel Staff Writer

Two thousand flightless birds will soon make their annual migration down Granite Creek in a yearly event that’s helped children learn to read, be safe on the water, and cross the street safely. 

The annual Rotary Duck Race is 10 days away. The fundraiser helps Sitka Rotarians support projects throughout Sitka including their most recent  one, installation of safety lights at the intersection of Halibut Point Road and Peterson Street. 

 

 

Sitka Rotary Club members sort through their collection of plastic ducks recently. (Sentinel file photo)

The duck race takes place at Granite Creek on July 4. For a $10 ticket you can get one of 2,000 numbered rubber ducks that will be dropped in the creek at HPR. The ticket holder whose duck reaches tidewater first gets roundtrip tickets on Alaska Airlines. There are nine other cash prizes totaling $1,450. 

Funds help support other nonprofits in town for projects such as the flashing lights being installed at the crosswalk for Peterson Street and Halibut Point Road. Sharon Bergman, a past Rotary president and longtime member of the club, said that the crosswalk lights at HPR and Peterson represents one of the type of projects Rotary likes to take on. 

“That’s definitely one of our larger projects that we’ve done in quite a while. We were kind of in on the beginning of the Kids Don’t Float project (at Sitka harbors). That’s kind of what our goal seems to be is public safety –  we do a lot of stuff with literacy and for kids safety,” Bergman said.

Sitka Rotary put $6,000 toward the crosswalk project, most of which came out of the past year’s funds. This year’s duck race tickets will be dedicated to future projects, and Rotarian John Weitkamp has dedicated himself to making sure all of the ducks are sold. 

“When I came into the club ... my goal was to clear 500 ducks, and this year I wanted to up the ante a little bit,” Weitkamp said. 

 

He surpassed last year’s goal, selling more than 600 tickets through a system of online marketing and personal persuasion. So far, the Rotarians have sold about 60 percent of their duck race tickets, which Weitkamp says is about on pace to meet the goal.

“We’re about two-thirds sold. We need to sell about 200 more in the next week and then the week of the event should carry us through,” he said.

And if it seems like Weitkamp has ticket sales analyzed to the decimal point, it’s because he does. 

“Well, I’m the stat freak of the group,” quipped Weitkamp, a retired lawyer. 

Duck race tickets are available throughout town and from Rotarians who have been selling them at local grocery stores. They’re available until all 2,000 are sold, each corresponding with a duck meticulously sorted and catalogued by a Rotarian. 

“You haven’t lived until you’ve seen 35 people going through 2,000 rubber duckies on a tarp spread out on the floor in the Westmark,” Weitkamp said. 

This year’s fundraiser is particularly important, he said, because dropping revenues for the city and state mean less money for public projects. 

“It appears we’ll need some more 501(c)3 money if we want to do some things around town given the state of the city’s finances,” Weitkamp said. 

The best way to do that, he added, is for nonprofits to work together. Rotary made its crosswalk donation through the Girl Scouts, who worked with state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and the Sitka Fire Department to help install Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFP) at the crosswalk. The beacons, just like those at crosswalks on Edgecumbe Drive, flash to alert drivers that someone is trying to cross the street.

 

Bergman’s son, Cody, was hit by a car while riding his bike at the intersection in January 2015. Cody, then 15, had to be flown to Seattle for treatment for injuries sustained in the wreck. A number of groups made the intersection a priority and Sharon Bergman said Rotary was happy to help out with the cost. 

“The Girl Scouts and the Volunteer Fire Department are kind of heading it up. When they brought it up, I told them they should just go to Rotary because that would be a good project for us,” Bergman said. 

“That one was fairly easy because of the concern about safety and it didn’t appear that it was going to happen through other sources so we jumped on board,” Weitkamp said. 

By statute, the Rotary Club has 12 months to reinvest the money earned back into the community. Weitkamp said they shouldn’t have trouble doing that as they take requests from local groups and have discussions about new projects. 

 

“We may do another cross walk lighting project. We may do some other things but I’m hoping to partner with some other nonprofits in town this year so that we can accomplish a lot of different projects,” Weitkamp said. 

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20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

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