Paddle parade, ducky race part of fun at Regatta on the Yough

The annual event held by the Belle Vernon Rotary Club grows bigger and more successful every year.

Ducks, ducks and more ducks.

The Belle Vernon Rotary Club held its rubber-duck themed Regatta on the Yough Sunday with fun activities and prizes for the whole family.

The regatta, which was from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., was held at the boat launch area and activity center of Cedar Creek Park in Rostraver Township.

Event co-chairs Debbie Keefer and Tom Yoder and their regatta committee said they are grateful for the enthusiasm for the event and generosity from area businesses to support this major Rotary fundraising effort.

“One year we decided to do a ducky race and then all of these other activities evolved around that because I’m an avid kayaker, river person and we just started incorporating river-based activities into the day, and that’s how we came up with the regatta,” Keefer said. “It just started out as a little ducky race, and it’s kind of a lot now. It’s great.”

“When I joined the rotary, I felt like they needed a little bit. We like to give away a lot of money, and I felt like, with an event like this, soliciting for sponsorships and having a little bit more activities we could attract more revenue into the club,” she added. “It just kind of all fell into place. Tom and I, we both like to kayak, we both like to bicycle. We’re both outdoors people, and we just kinda teamed up and used both of our skills to get it started, but the whole club gets involved.”

They added that the fourth annual event will be expanded and improved from last year, and the main event sponsor was AllDry Services of Rostraver/ FayWest.

The planning for the event started in January, when the club started working with Westmoreland County Parks to use the park, according to Keefer, who added that the planning “heats up” around April and May. When the event is over, the club starts talking about next year’s regatta.

The duck theme started from having a ducky derby the one year, Keefer said.

“Many non profits do something similar because it’s fun,” Keefer said. “We’re between two rivers here. It seems logical it would be a good fundraiser and it is. People seem to very much support it. That is pretty much where the whole duck theme started.”

Keefer said the crowd of people was around 500 people, with curious residents from the nearby trail, the boat launch and those exposed to the rotary’s advertising coming in to check out what they had to offer.

Rotary District 7305 Governor Dan Dougherty was also in attendance.

A paddle parade was held in the river adjacent to the event site, and had participants dress up their water craft to the best of their imagination and compete for prizes, with $300 in cash going to the first-place decorated entry. Ten floats participated.

“That started because we tried to do an actual float from Smithton to Cedar Creek, but we just didn’t get enough interest,” Keefer said. “But they go all out. They really do. The ones that do come really spend a lot of time on their watercraft.”

First place went to Camille Layton of Donora in her butterfly-themed float. It was then followed by Seth Bergman, 18, of Charleroi with his theme to the movie “Up,” in second place as well as 14-yearold Belle Vernon resident Nolace Petrosky’s Hawaii-themed paddle board in third place. Petrosky’s sibling Neville, 12, of Belle Vernon got an honorable mention for a hunting-themed float.

Also making a return this year was the Kids Zone, designed for kids ages 12 and younger, where Rotary members offered many free activities and contests including Rain Gutter Regatta, marshmallow golf, photos with Puddles the Duck from AllDry and more.

All kids received a token prize for participating in the activities – including a kids Little Ducky Derby, where they could race rubber ducks in an on-land inflatable pool.

“I have enjoyed bringing my kids here for the past few years,” Mike Smith of North Belle Vernon said. “They love the activities and the rubber duck theme.”

Several of the Rotary’s 45 members volunteered for the event, and were assisted by the Belle Vernon Area High School Interact Club volunteers in the Kids Zone, according to Keefer.

“It’s a family-oriented event, so we really cater to the kids,” Keefer said. “The Interact kids help us, and it helps us raise money so that we can help them do their projects and they do a lot of service projects. It comes full circle, and it’s a great thing.”

In addition to a 600-duckie derby race, local businesses sponsored super-sized rubber ducks in their own Great Company Duck Race.

The 40 decorated ducks were judged for best in show and were voted on with raffle tickets from residents. They were then put to the challenge of racing in the water.

“This is a great event for the kids especially,” said Belle Vernon Rotarian Ed Stasko who was working the Great Company Duck Race stand at the event. “This is a great thing we do with the rotary.”

Some companies that decorated ducks included Mom’s Lens Studio LLC, Theresa’s Hair Loft, Mar-Bill Diamonds and Jewelry, Bennys Pizza, Little Lovelies and more.

A Ducky Diner tent was also on site, presented by Rotarian Jim Wessel and the West Meeting Center, which had cheeseburgers, hot dogs, snacks and drinks with all proceeds going to the Belle Vernon Rotary Club. An ice cream truck and popcorn stand also offered treats.

There was also music by D.J. Jerry Jericho, raffles and remote boat races presented by small Uniontown business Get A Hobby, which had the boats race in the river. Beaver County River Rats RC Club was also racing remote boats.

The Collinsburg VFD Water Rescue Team was in the water providing safety and demonstrations to the public as well as rescuing rogue remote boats, giving rides to the public and helping line up the ducks in the Youghiogheny River for the duck race.

The Rotary club funds several scholarships to Belle Vernon and Frazier school district students, supports food banks, veterans’ projects, beautification efforts, families in need and more.

The regatta is the club’s biggest fundraiser, according to Keefer, who said they will give the proceeds from this year’s event to give back to parts of the community. Last year’s proceeds from the Regatta were presented to Belle Vernon Area and Frazier for each school district’s emotional support programs.

“Rotary is an international organization, so we support international projects, but locally we do the food backs, we do the libraries, we help out the fire departments and most lately, we got into the schools and we started learning about emotional support programs,” Keefer said. “We try to find where the greatest need is locally and we support it financially.”

In addition to AllDry Services, many local businesses served as major sponsors as well, including first mate sponsor C. Harper Auto. Second mate sponsors were Fayette Legacy Group of Janney Montgomery Scott, cfsbank, Perryopolis Auto Auction, Somerset Trust, Huntington Bank, Planet Roof, Veritiv, PNC, Gulisek, OSPTA, BeeGraphix and Valley 1st. The Mon Valley Independent was also a sponsor.

Those interested in the Belle Vernon Rotary Club can attend the group’s meetings 6:30 p.m. Thursdays at The Clubhouse Grille at the Cedarbrook Golf Course in Belle Vernon.

Keefer also encouraged people to check out their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BVARotary.

“It just has a great vibe. Being down by the water and everything is so interesting and fun,” she said. “There is a lot of visual excitement – with the decorated ducks and the Interact kids and all the games we have. We are raising money while we’re having fun. When it’s Regatta day, it’s really worth all the effort that goes into it.”