Dam Duck Derby Set For McMinnville’s Pepper Branch Park Saturday

The inaugural Dam Duck Derby set for Pepper Branch Park in McMinnville on Saturday to help fight hunger.

Several thousand toy ducks will be dropped at the base of Barren Fork Dam where they will race down river. Matthew 25 Ministries hosting the event. Director of Ministries Gannon Richesin said the organization focuses on weekly community meals for homeless children.

“We have a lot of hungry children during these extended breaks from school,” Richesin said. “Its either the Tuesday or Wednesday before school gets for Christmas, we will be partnering with the school systems and providing those children food while they’re out on Christmas Break.”

The first 30 ducks to cross the finish line win a prize. Individuals can adopt a rubber duck for five dollars or they can get 25 ducks for $100. The event begins at 11am Saturday.

“There’s a huge one of these in Chicago where they race down the river in Chicago, and its a week long event,” Richesin said. “But I just wanted to try and involve as many of the people in the community to help with the fundraising in our community while also trying to give back an event that we believe the community will have a good time at on Saturday.”

Richesin said the timing of the event was important.

“We wanted to be on the back end of summer with it being on the river here in town,” Richesin said. “We didn’t want to be inconvenient to the kayaking companies here in town and also the locals that use the river.”

Matthew 25 Ministries is a non-profit organization, named for the six areas of needs mentioned in Matthew 25: hunger, thirst, sickness, outcast, clothing, and imprisonment.

Each duck will be marked with a number that corresponds with the person who adopted the duck. Local businesses and individuals have donated prizes for the race.