MOSES LAKE — The ducks were dumped in the water of Moses Lake, and they were off. They raced toward shore – a slow-motion kind of racing, admittedly – with two or three ducks neck and neck as the field floated toward the finish line.

(Well, since they’re plastic ducks, more like duckbill to duckbill.)

One duck broke away as the bright yellow flock neared the shore, and when it was scooped from the water, Sheila Chilson’s duck had won the sixth annual Duck Derby sponsored by the Boys and Girls Club.

Actually, “the club won $1,500,” Chilson said. She’s on the club’s board of directors, and said she would donate the money back to the club. “Because it’s a great place for kids.”

The Duck Derby is the club’s summer fundraiser. (The club tries to have a fundraiser each quarter, Chilson said.) The ducks are marked with a number, and the first 50 ducks across the finish line won prizes for their purchasers.

The goal each year is to sell about 4,000 ducks, Chilson said, and the club sold about 3,000 in 2017. A total for the 2017 derby will be available later this week.

Ann Harder’s duck took second and won her $1,000. Marilyn Pulis won third and four tickets and parking pass to a Seattle Mariners game. Martha Karusse’s duck took fourth and won $250. A second duck purchased by Chilson won the fifth prize and $100.

The duck derby is not just the ducks – organizations and community groups sponsored booths with games for children. “We want to be able to grow it and grow it,” so there’s a summer event for kids and families, Chilson said.

Kids fished in the fishing pond, and the water pistols the kids “caught” were very appreciated on a hot day. (One girl had a full water pistol while her opponents’ pistols were empty, and exulted that nobody would come close to her, because she had the power.)

The kids made bubbles – really big bubbles – at the bubble pond, and visited the face-painting booth. The kids made crafts and played ring toss and beanbag toss. They could take tours of a real-live fire truck and a real-live ambulance.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].