Although Petal Excel By 5 officials were hoping for a little more from the Great American Duck Derby, the event still turned out pretty impressive results, selling more than 1,400 ducks and raising more than $14,000 for an infant/toddler playground at Hinton Park.
“It’s not quite what we hoped to do, but that’s still pretty darn good for a $10-a-whack fundraiser,” Excel By 5 chairperson Nadine Coleman said. “So we were pleased with that, and it was so much fun. I think people really rallied around the event.”
The need for the infant/toddler playground has been discussed since this time last year, when members of the Petal Excel By 5 Coalition, Petal Area Chamber of Commerce and the Coleman Center for Families and Children met to discuss adding the playground at the park to supplement the play areas for older children.
Possible pieces of equipment for the proposed infant toddler/playground are a Smart Play Loft for children ages 2-5 years old and a Smart Play Nook that offers 28 different activities for children ages 6-23 months. Other possible ideas include shade structures, seating for parents, a market café, a Little Tykes Treehouse, and a swing area.
“Of course, playgrounds are very expensive, and for good reason – you have to be so sure of safety things – so we will be applying for some grants,” Coleman said. “But we felt like it was important to us, as the Excel coalition, to do something to show that we’re willing to get out there and work to try and raise money for the playground.
“We’ve got some skin in the game; we’re not just asking for money, because we’re willing to get out and work for it too. And of course, we’ll probably do some other fundraisers along the way.”
The Duck Derby initiative began in late June when Excel By 5 started selling numbered plastic ducks at participating businesses like GrandCentral Outfitters, the Petal School District Central Office and Sweet Blossom’s. Each “adoption” of a duck was $10, and participants were able to buy single ducks, Quack Packs, (6 ducks for $60), a Quackers Dozen, (12 ducks for $120) or a Flock of Ducks (20 for $200).
“We stood in front of Walmart, we were at the farmers market, and we were at Corner Market selling tickets,” Coleman said. “It really gave us a chance to kind of one-on-one talk to people about what Excel By 5 is and how we came up with the idea of the infant/toddler playground.
“So to me, that was real significant, because you don’t often get the chance to talk to people that you don’t know, or that aren’t involved in it. People seemed really interested in that, and I think they got the idea for the need of an area for the really small children (at Hinton Park). So not only was it a great fundraiser; it was a great awareness campaign for us at Excel By 5 and the work that we’re doing, and how they can be engaged in it.”
The ducks were dumped into the Leaf River off the East Hardy Street bridge on the morning of July 6, where they raced for about a quarter of a mile down the river to the finish line “V.” The first duck floating through the finish line won $1,000, while second place won $500 and third place won $250.
The first-place winner was Chris Keiper, a librarian at the Library of Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County.
“She’s the children’s librarian at the library, and she’s also an Excel By 5 Coalition member, so we were real pleased that she won,” Coleman said.
