WESTPORT–The Sunrise Rotary’s 16 annual “Great Duck Race” was staged yesterday at Jesup Green.

According to Katie Augustyn, President of Westport Sunrise Rotary Club, “several thousand” people attended the event. More than 3,200 tickets were sold, which, when combined with sponsorship fees, will afford the club to issue “about $100,000” in grants next year, according to Augustyn.

The 2025 grants were announced last month. Recent grant recipients are listed here. 

Applications for 2026 grants will be available later in the year. Historically, the “grant application deadline is typically in late January,” Augustyn said.

The lure of the event is to win a share of the proceeds–with the ducks acting as raffle tickets. Each duck is numbered–the winners were the holders of tickets with the same number as the first 10 ducks over the finish line.

Many of the winners immediately donated their winnings back to the club.

This year’s winners are:

• Sharon Rychilk ($5,000)
• Bruce Fritz ($1,000)
• Ellen Swisher ($500)
• Brian Stern ($500)
• Angelo Termine ($500)
• Gimbels Pon ($500)
• Ian Gorman ($500)
• Courtney Mullen ($500)
• Tim Kelly ($500)
• Sylvia Galambos ($500)

Several local businesses supported the event through sponsorship:

• AJ Penna & Son
• Berchem Moses
• Bluewater Home Builders
• BOOM Photo Booth
• Cohen and Wolf
• Jim Ezzes
• Fairfield Country Day School
• FLB Law
• Gault Family Companies
• Hartford Healthcare
• JMKA Architects
• Kohler
• Landtech
• Leifer Properties
• MarshMcLennan Agency
• New Perspective Cabinetry & Design
• Nomade Restaurant
• Ring’s End
• Rumi Mind Health
• Yvonne Sentura & Ron Henkoff
• SIR Development
• Tanner White Architects
• The Clubhouse Westport
• Village Pediatrics
• Volvo
• Webster Bank
• Wells Fargo Advisors
• Westport National Bank
• Liz & Jim Wong

Supporters also included the Westport Fire Department, the Westport Police Department and the Westport Library.