Buddy Werner’s nephew wins Vail Rotary Club’s duck race in Gore Creek
Denver Rotarian Bob Koelbel has been visiting Vail since 1965
Ben Roof/For the Vail Daily
Bob Koelbel of Denver visited the Vail Farmer’s Market on Sunday, stopping by the Rotary Club’s booth and purchasing three ducks for the annual rubber duck race down Gore Creek.
It was about 11 a.m., four hours before those 10,000 ducks hit the water in the Vail Rotary Club’s annual Gore Creek duck race. He didn’t stay for the race, opting to play golf in Eagle Ranch instead.
“I just do it to support the Rotary,” he said. “You never expect to win.”
But as was waiting in the tee box on hole 14, he received a call from his nephew who was at the race. Bob’s duck had crossed the line first, and he had won the $5,000 prize.
“I thought he was pulling my leg,” Koelbel said.
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After the call, Koelbel checked his voicemail and saw there was a message in there from the Vail Rotary Club.
“It was such a shock and a treat, and I’m going to probably take that money and give it back to our Rotary Club to enhance their gifting every year,” he said.
Koelbel is a member of the Denver Southeast Rotary Club; his mom is a native Coloradan who met his father while his father was in Colorado for a Navy officer training program, he said.
“My dad never went back to Michigan,” Koelbel said.
Koelbel said the family began visiting Western Colorado because his uncle, former Olympic skier Buddy Werner, was insistent on teaching the family to ski. His father later became involved in Vail in the real estate industry. Koelbel first visited Vail in 1965 and has been visiting ever since.
“Vail became a home away from home,” Koelbel said.
Koelbel said he’s been buying ducks for the Gore Creek race since the mid-2000s.
“We’ve always made Labor Day weekend up in Vail an annual weekend with the family and the kids and all, we always love going to the Farmer’s Market,” he said. “We enjoy all the art there and buying fruits and vegetables and stopping by the Rotary booth.”
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This year’s Vail duck race raised more than $60,000, said Penny Wilson with the Vail Rotary Club.
“We put about 10,000 ducks in the creek, and 9,161 had adopters,” Wilson said.
