Sunny The Duck Gets Soaked On The Saugatuck In Westport

WESTPORT, Conn. — Sunny the Duck is a fixture in the Saugatuck River in Westport in the weeks leading up to the Great Duck Race, an annual fundraiser run by the Westport Sunrise Rotary.

Sunny the Duck, the mascot of the Great Duck Race run by Westport Sunrise Rotary, gets soaked in the Saugatuck River on Thursday afternoon.
Photo Credit: *Karen Tensa*

A team in a canoe sets out to set Sunny upright while a swan swims for closer look. Sunny is the mascot of a the Westport Sunrise Rotary and its Great Duck Race.
Photo Credit: *Karen Tensa*

It's a miserable rainy May day, so why not stand in the Saugatuck River and untangle ropes on a giant duck?
Photo Credit: *Karen Tensa*

Sunny the Duck on a sunnier day!
Photo Credit: *Westport Sunrise Rotary/Facebook*

Karen Tensa

05/26/2017 5:00 a.m.

But the heavy, driving rain on Thursday was too much even for this giant yellow waterfowl.

With Sunny tipped on her side, a rescue team set out in a canoe to get her back upright and floating straight.

One of the Saugatuck swans even swam by to check out the situation as one man stood in the tidal river and untangled the ropes that tie Sunny to the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge.

As for the Great Duck Race event, it is set for Saturday, June 3. The fun starts at 9 a.m. and continues until 2 p.m. at Parker Harding Plaza in downtown Westport.

For the big race, over 2,000 rubber ducks will be dumped into the Saugatuck at 11:30 a.m. by a front loader, which is quite a sight to behold. The race starts at noon.

There will be $10,000 in prizes awarded.

The event is great for families, with a bouncy house, nerdy derby, tennis ball toss, fire trucks, duck decorating, face painting and more, along with food and drinks.

For more information, click here to visit the Westport Sunrise Rotary website.

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