Ducks to Compete Beak to Beak at Legg Lake to Aid Leukemia Society

A fun-filled afternoon will reach its beak today with a mass race of plastic ducks giving their all to benefit the Leukemia Society of America.

The event, at the south end of Legg Lake in Whittier Narrows Park, will last from noon to 5 p.m., with the race due to start at 2. No fewer than 5,000 little multicolored “ducks,” imported from China, will bob toward a finish line. Winner earns a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond for its temporary “owner.” Second prize is a “mallard-duck telephone” billed as “unique” with no argument. Each duck will be numbered, the number corresponding to a $1 donation to the Leukemia Society.

The ducks, incidentally, are not self-propelled. “There’s a current, right?” says Yvonne Torres, Leukemia Society spokesperson. “The water moves, and all that.”

And, no, you don’t get to keep your ducky. “We’ll collect them all and bring them back to the office so they can race another day.”