Over 600 small, yellow ducks plunged from the Cartersville Bridge into the warm waters of the James River on a recent Saturday afternoon as part of the fourth annual Cartersville Ruritan Quacker Challenge Cup.

While the feathers and quacking were absent, the plastic toys — each with numbers written in black magic marker underneath — gently meandered downriver being carried by the current.

“We had a great event,” said Fred Shumaker, a longtime member of the club, following the event. “It stopped raining for us and we were able to drop the ducks at 3 p.m. as scheduled and it all went well.”

The Quacker Challenge Cup raises money for the Ruritan Club, charging five dollars to sponsor one of the red-billed yellow toys.

“We raise funds to help the community. We offer scholarships to the graduating seniors,” Shumaker said. “We do everything from helping the fire department the rescue squad [and] needy families.”

The event began in 2012, said Shumaker, taking the place of the annual fireworks show, which was held for 30-plus years.

Once the race was on and the ducks were in the water, club members and others floated in canoes and kayaks along the river and to the Tamworth finish line.

People buy tickets, sponsoring each duck, and the first duck that makes it across the finish line gets $500, second place gets $300 and third gets $100, said Shumaker. Roger Taylor, of Henrico, took first place, Pam Pleasants, of Cartersville, took second while Mike Boudreau, of Cartersville, took home third.

The whole club is involved in the event, said Shumaker, which has over 30 members.
Don Bales, who’s been in the club for eight years, is one of the members who rains the ducks off of the bridge.

“[It] seems like everyone involved enjoys it,” he said. “It’s a good fundraiser.”
Club member Glenna Sties holds onto the ducks during the year and numbers them individually. “I’m the duck keeper. Quack!” she said, laughing. Sties also orders and counts the small ducks.

“We have people in boats along the river. And, we don’t let anyone get into the ducks or touch them,” Shumaker said.

In all, 650 ducks are numbered and dumped into the water.

The club members shared a hope of success with the inanimate objects floating in the river — in the Ruritans’ case, fundraising to continue to support the community as it has in years past.

And in the ducks’ case — making it to Tamworth to be the first one to cross under the finish line.

Shumaker offered thanks to all who participated and helped, including the event sponsors and those who purchased tickets.

This is a corrected version of an earlier story, amended on Wednesday, Aug. 5.