I'm looking for volunteers

[StopAnimalCruelty]

Hi. I am looking for a few volunteers to help Stop Animal Cruelty with a rubber ducky race on August 24. We need several people to help "herd" the ducks down the Ouachita from Remmel Dam area to the WhiteWater River Park in Malvern, just to keep the ducks moving and not lost or caught up in branches or on the bank. We also may need a couple of people to help at the finish line. If you can help, please contact me g_jeffries7@yahoo.com Thank you so much!

[Cowper]

I’m totally sympathetic to your cause - but it sounds like the present plan my conflict with another cause very dear to my heart, keeping litter out of rivers.

It can take 3 or more hours for folks that are padding some to get from Remmel to Rockport. If the duckies are floating at current speed, even a light wind might prevent any from making it through some of the longer pools. They could be blown upstream or to the bank and not show up at the Whitewater Park before sunset, if ever.

Also, you would need a significant number of "herders" if you have more than just a few duckies. The herders would have to commit to an all-day effort to keep the duckies in mid stream. If the wind blows the wrong way, they would essentially have to collect all the duckies and release them again closer to the ledge.

I can see where in a brainstorming session this would come up as a really cool idea, but is there really any big advantage to releasing them at Remmel? You could release them just above the ledge, where everyone could watch, and then use volunteers recruited from the normal Saturday crowd to collect the duckies. This would only require 15 to 30 minutes of time from each of your volunteers. Even better, one jon boat with a fish landing net could probably retrieve 100% of the duckies in the pool below the ledge, before they get too spread out, and with that variation you only need one or two volunteers in advance, who could probably be recruited from within your own organization.

Please don’t throw a large number of duckies in at Remmel unless you get enough volunteers to make this happen as you envision it!

[AR-Nimrod]

I can see where in a brainstorming session this would come up as a really cool idea, but is there really any big advantage to releasing them at Remmel? You could release them just above the ledge, where everyone could watch, and then use volunteers recruited from the normal Saturday crowd to collect the duckies. This would only require 15 to 30 minutes of time from each of your volunteers. Even better, one jon boat with a fish landing net could probably retrieve 100% of the duckies in the pool below the ledge, before they get too spread out, and with that variation you only need one or two volunteers in advance, who could probably be recruited from within your own organization.

Please don’t throw a large number of duckies in at Remmel unless you get enough volunteers to make this happen as you envision it!

The small island just upriver from the ledge would seem to be an ideal spot for this. Easy access and the duckies could be put in from the main river side of the island.

Cowper is correct about releasing them at Remmel. Without someone to herd them all the way downriver, many would probably wind up lining the banks like litter

[Jim E]

Here is some left over river trash from duckie race/fundraisers. They never collect them all. See them every year.

0.jpg (7.25 KiB) Viewed 744 times

[StopAnimalCruelty]

The main reason I said Remmel, is thats the main put in point. I know 6 miles is a long way. Thankfully there is someone that lives on the river that is WAY closer that will let us put the ducks in there. I also do not want the ducks to become river litter, which is the main reason I was asking for help to keep them off the banks, out of any downfall and to guide them into the pool noodle funnel at the end. Thank you for your input.