Lady luck took the form of a plastic duck Sunday afternoon, as an annual charity event filled Mirror Pond with thousands of floating toys.

Now in its 26th year, the Great Drake Park Duck Race, organized by four Bend-area rotary clubs, has raised $1.2 million for charity. On Sunday, with 17,930 ducks sold at $5 each, and with about an hour to go until race time, the event was set to add about $90,000 to its total.

Kate Bailey, the event’s organizer, stressed the difficulty of ushering so many ducks down a river frequented by floaters, kayakers and actual ducks.

“Believe it or not, we have to spend hours beforehand floating every single duck in a kids pool to see if they still float,” Bailey said a few days before the event. “They’re not actually rubber ducks, so they can get banged up, and we usually end up replacing about a couple hundred every year. And then, of course, we have to renumber them. It’s not easy.”

There’s also the threat of poachers, usually parents trying to snag an errant duck for their kid. Bailey noted each duck costs about $3, and any thieves will hopefully be punished with a life of fundraising, she joked at the race.

So what, besides the desire to support such local groups as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Bend and Healthy Beginnings, could bring in $90,000 in donations? The prize for the fleetest duck was a $20,000 voucher to Smolich Motors.

Bailey, who had four ducks in the race, said she wasn’t interested in the voucher, as she’s a loyal Honda driver, a make Smolich doesn’t carry.

Tammy Wisco, 39, who had a duck in the race and was watching the action from the riverbank, was hoping her $5 may land her a new SUV.

“I want to be able to make it to the Broken Top hike, and I need more clearance,” she said.

Tom Wright, 58, said he’s a big car guy, and wasn’t sure $20,000 would do the trick for him. Instead, he had his eye on a new car stereo system donated by Sounds Fast, one of the other prizes donated by local businesses.

In the end, the lucky duck belonged to Brian Stallcop, a financial adviser and longtime Rotarian who was not immediately present Sunday afternoon. Bailey noted Saturday was Stallcop’s birthday and called him “a really good guy.”

The big winner, however, wasn’t the only winner. Earlier in the day, a smaller, kids race was held.

The ducks were free, and Bailey said the intent was mostly to make sure the floating barriers that funnel the ducks toward the finish line worked.

Gwennie Navage, 8, won the race, which gave her the opportunity to pick out a new bike from a handful on display from Hutch’s Bicycles.

It was an easy choice once Gwennie saw the purple handlebars on one of the bikes. Though pink and green share the honor of being Gwennie’s favorite color, she said purple is clearly next best.

— Reporter: 541-633-2160, tleeds@bendbulletin.com