Community Corner

Give Us Your Best 'Quack' to Win a Patch Duck for Rubber Ducky Race

Paint Creek race is planned for Sunday at Rochester Municipal Park.

Surely you've seen ducks float down Paint Creek in . But have you ever seen one — or 24 — as green as this?

The annual is planned for Sunday. The event, a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan, begins at 1 p.m. with an old-fashioned carnival; the actual race, in which thousands of ducks are dumped into the creek from the bridge on the north side of the park, begins at 2 p.m.

The race is the creation of Rochester Hills mom Donetta Behen, who came up with the idea five years ago as a way to say thank you to the community that helped her family get through a tough time. Daughter Morgan Behen fought brain cancer as a child; the Behen family received a while Morgan was going through her treatments.

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"At the time, we wanted to throw a big party to say thank you to the people who helped us," Behen said. "That's how the rubber duck race was born.  And then the next year, we said 'Why not do that again?' "

All proceeds from the event benefit the Behen family's team for the Wish-A-Mile 300 Bicycle Tour, which directly benefits Make-A-Wish Foundation.

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"Our hope is that the community realizes what it means to grant a child a wish," Behen said. "It's very much part of the healing process — it gives them a chance to be a kid again. It's a week for them to not have doctor visits any more."

Ducks are $4 apiece or three for $10. If your adopted duck wins the race, you could win a prize — and bragging rights to owning the town's speediest duck.

Got ducks? Win one

You can adopt a duck by sending an email to Behen at Behen3gr@aol.com. Or, you can win one now.

Rochester Patch is giving away adoption certificates to 24 special Patch ducks. If you want one, you don't have to do anything other than quack. Post your best duck sound (you type it; we'll use our imaginations) in the comment section below; the first 24 quackers will win an adoption certificate for one of the Patch ducks.

Comments must be posted by midnight Tuesday. The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. And this wouldn't be a contest without a complete list of official Patch contest rules; you can read them .

You don't have to be present (at the race) for your duck to win, but it would be fun to try to guess which duck is yours. Organizers are hoping to sell 4,500.


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