Dartmouth Duck Derby Draws Crowd to Cheer On $5,000 Winning Duck

The 18th Annual Allen's Pond Duck Derby in Dartmouth was a success and one lucky duck went home $5,000 richer.

On Friday, August 20 around 2:30 p.m., nearly 7,000 (6,617 to be exact) yellow rubber ducks were dumped into the channel that feeds Allen's Pond. The countdown from 10 began and a crowd built up on both sides began to cheer and root on the rubber ducks. One by one, the ducks took to the incoming current, pushing them into the finish line barricade.

Approximately five minutes later, the race was over and one lucky person who contributed $10 to the Mass Audubon event went home with a nice hefty check of $5,000. Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, your winning duck for 2021 is:

"Pinky" belongs to Evan Williams of Lee, Massachusetts and was named after his five-year-old's fish, just one of the animals in her house to be named in the race.

Now, here's how it all works as for as winnings go. There are five grand prize winners who chose from the following five prizes in the order that their ducks finished:

• $5,000 cash
• Dinner for 10 at a Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuary
• Osprey Adventure with overnight accommodation, picnic breakfast, and guided Osprey Boat Tour
• Native Planting Consultation including design plan and plants
• Animal Encounter at a Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuary

Evan and his daughters Hannah and Maggie decided to take home the cash prize and plan on participating next year as well.

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All in all, $50,610 was raised in duck sales, putting this year's event within the top five most profitable all-time. All of the money raised will be used to fund programs and research for the Allen's Pond Wildlife Sanctuary.

Mass Audubon has a total of 7,500 rubber ducks in stock, but has yet to break the 7,000 duck mark. It hopes next year to not only exceed this years duck total, but to push past the 7,000 mark.

Even though the race was wrapped up in about five minutes, Mass Audubon's office manager and photographer Briana Wingate captured the totality of the race from start to finish: