The clock is counting down to Birch Bay’s finale of the summer festival season with Derby Day on Saturday, August 23.
The closeout event will start on a good foot with the Friends of Birch Bay Library’s 3rd annual Love Your Library 5K Fun Run/Walk at 9 a.m. at Cottonwood Beach. Online registration is open while on-site registration will begin the day of at 8 a.m. at Cottonwood Beach. The family-friendly race along the berm costs $25, which includes a T-shirt.
After running or walking from Cottonwood Beach to Lora Lane and back, Birch Bay library friends will welcome the community to a pancake breakfast 9:30 a.m.-11 a.m. in front of the future Birch Bay Vogt Library Express, 7948 Birch Bay Drive. Library activities will include kids activities until 2 p.m., story time at 10 a.m. and a book sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. All profits go toward the new library express facility.
Next on the docket, the Birch Bay Poker Run will have people scrambling across Birch Bay Drive on bikes and golf carts in search for the best poker hand 1-2:30 p.m. Event hosts, the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce and Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation District 2, encourage teams to register in advance as space for the non-gambling event is limited.
Billy Brown’s Crab Derby will follow as crabbers bring their catches to judges between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. in front of the Beach Bar, 7876 Birch Bay Drive. Participants will have the chance to win prizes for the heaviest catch of five or fewer crabs, the single heaviest crab and the largest red rock crab. Crabs must be legally harvested and follow additional rules to qualify.
The festival’s nail-biting race will culminate the festival as rubber ducks race down Terrell Creek about 5:30 p.m. for the Birch Bay Ducky Derby. The yellow ducks will be thrown off the Terrell Creek bridge to swim down the waterway, with prizes awarded for 1st through 10th place as well as the “slacker quacker,” or the last duck across the finish line.
Ducks will cost $5 each and profits will benefit Friends of the Birch Bay Library. The rubber racers can be purchased at the Birch Bay Visitor Information Center, 4819 Alderson Road in suite 103, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily or at the Birch Bay Bookmobile at the library property 3-7 p.m. Wednesdays.
For more information on the Birch Bay chamber’s festival, visit birchbaywa.org/birch-bay-derby-day.
