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i By Michelle Starr
i Staff writer
I There’s nothing like drinking some beer and racing ducks
I with friends - at least that was the idea behind the annual
I Quack-Off that began 20 years ago in Avoca.
■ “I was in a drunk state, and it was somethin’ to do,” said
■ Vem Dettmer, one of four Quack-Off founders. “We were all
■ sitting around trying to fmd something to do in the winter, so
■ we thought about runnin’ ducks.”
The little town of 254, located about 30 ✓ / . ,
■ miles east of Lincoln, doubles in size once a •• Wg rlCtCl
B year, on the last Saturday in January.
People flock in on charter buses, school jVigYlClS that
■ buses, die P.O. Pears bus and even a limou
■ sine. They came carrying full coolers,brain- Said Wg Had tO
■ storming names for racing ducks.
“We had friends that said we had to COtflg SO Wg
come, so we came,” said Terry Mylander of ’
North Bend. “It’s kinda like a football game. It S kinda
W"~ 1 Saturday without die football”
il B was Mylander’s first year at the //q football
Quack-Off, and he said he was having a J
ESIbIast Saturday
Almost anything goes: stomping,
■ clappingjumping, yelling - except touch- without thp
■ ing the duck - to get the duck down the
H iced-down basketball court first. inn thn 11 ”
The Avoca Volunteer Fire
■ Department sponsors the event, which is _ , ,
Photos by Diane Broderick/DN
TOP: STEWART BREHM of
Stromsburg races his duck,
Pulsating Penelope, in the sec
ond round of races in the fourth
heat. Though they put up a good
race, Brehm and Penelope were
not among the top four finishers.
ABOVE: CONNIE CORNICAN of
Omaha waits after winning her
first race with her duck, Dixie.
Cornican underwent surgery in
. September for toxic shock syn
drome, but she didn’t let that
stop her from attending the
Quack-Off.
its largest fund-raiser. terry myiiuiucr
» The dedication to the event was spectator
impressive.
Omaha was at the event ready to race her
duck, Dixie. Comican lost her toes and parts of her fingers during a hospital stay ending in mid
October.
It was her sixth year racing ducks. Comican said her husband, Bill, introduced her to Quack-Off when
they began dating.
The Quack-Off was part of her motivation for getting out of the hospital and recovering, she said.
Mike Bose, another of the four Quack-Off founders from Avoca, said one year the wind chill was 50 below zero, and
people still came to race their ducks.
They covered the basketball court in cardboard and participants waited in their cars until it was time to chase their
ducks down the lane, he said. He couldn’t remember the year, but he said about 85 participants raced ducks.
Though the dedication is there, the competition is all taken in good fun.
Kerry Crosby of Lincoln did not get a duck this, his third year, but his children did.
“I came to have a good time and watch these foolish people chase a duck,” he said.
Others said it was a good activity for everyone.
“It’s the best family-oriented fun in Nebraska,” said Brain Boggard of Omaha. He has been participating in the races
since he moved to Nebraska five years ago. His duck, Hang Ten, advanced to the finals.
David Swanson, Manager of Gussy’s Restaurant and Bar in Avoca and volunteer firefighter, said this year was slow.
“This year’s wasn’t very good. We’re used to 140 entries and about 500 people in the bar,” he said.
According to Brian Ehmke, the Avoca fire chief, 108 entered this year’s race and about 400-500 people at the bar.
Gussy’s Bar and Grill is the only bar in town, and although Swanson wouldn’t disclose the amount of sales taken in
Saturday, he said, “It makes my year.”
The Quack-Off benefits the Avoca Volunteer Fire Department, witha $10 registration fee and a $5 duck rental. The
firefighters sold sweatshirts, beer, “duckydogs” and burgers at the town hall, transformed into Quack-Off Headquarters.
Swanson said he estimated about a $5,000 profit for the fire department.
The earlier participants arrived, between the registration times 10 a.m. and noon, the better chance they had of getting
a speedy feathered friend. Races began at 1 p.m. and lasted until about 3:30 p.m. The race was followed by a dance
First place went to Brian Gross of Omaha and his duck, Louie; second place went to Shane Cronican of Omaha and
his duck, I Don’t Know; third place was Julie Rybar of Bellevue and her duck, Duck Off; and fourth place went to Travis
and Abbie Tlustos and Joey McGahan, all from Louisville, and their duck, Rings.