Jeep Giveaway Leaves the Duck Race in 2026
Mary Walker of Grace Clinic returns to Jeep Talk Show to talk Rubber Duck Regatta and Jeep Festival in Rockwall, Texas. The 2026 event keeps the free duck race at The Harbor on October 10 while shifting the big prizes to the Driving for Good sweepstakes: a modified 2026 Mojito Green Jeep Wrangler, Yamaha VX Deluxe Wave Runner with trailer, and $10,000 cash. Learn how the change from raffle to sweepstakes works, why they made it, and how both Grace Clinic and Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Texas benefit.
Timestamps
Key Highlights
- Free rubber duck race on Oct 10 with family prizes (safari trip, backyard patio set, adventure day) instead of the Jeep
- Driving for Good sweepstakes runs Sept 30–March 23 for the lifted Jeep, Wave Runner, and $10k
- Event still features Jeep show, vendors, kid zone, live music, and food at The Harbor on Lake Ray Hubbard
- Platinum Off-Road again built the trail-ready Wrangler; enter at rockwallduckrace.org or drivingforgood.org
- Funds support medical care at Grace Clinic and after-school/summer programs at Boys & Girls Clubs
Like the video if you’re heading to Rockwall on October 10, comment whether you’re grabbing free ducks or entering the sweepstakes, subscribe for more Jeep interviews, and visit rockwallduckrace.org plus drivingforgood.org to enter.
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00:13 – 00:00:53:23]
Hello Jeepers. It’s time for another Jeep talk show interview episode. We’re going to have Mary Walker back with us today. Mary’s been with us. Uh, I think I looked it up, uh, since 2022. I think 2022 was the first year that you had joined us. Uh, give people the rundown on who you are and, uh, what, what you’re here to talk to us about today. Okay. Uh, my name is Mary Walker. I am the executive director of a nonprofit organization called grace clinic in Rockwall, Texas. And we partner every year with the boys and girls clubs of Northeast Texas to hold what we call the best Jeep festival ever. Uh, the rubber duck for God and Jeep festival. Uh, we, that or the boys and girls clubs of Northeast Texas have been doing that organization since 2012. We jumped in grace clinic, jumped in with them in 2022.
[00:00:54:24 – 00:01:09:08]
And that’s when we started giving away a Jeep, uh, as part of the big duck race. That everyone participates in by adopting ducks. And then the first place prize for the number one duck was a Jeep Wrangler.
[00:01:10:15 – 00:02:43:23]
Yeah. Uh, and correct me on this was, uh, the, uh, Jeep talk show, uh, community member, was he the first, the one that won the first Jeep in 2022? Andrew. Yes. Uh, Andrew Prather won, uh, that first year, our, our very first Jeep giveaway. He sure did. So, uh, as I recall, when we talked, uh, five years ago now, uh, around that time, five years, um, that, uh, you guys had been doing this and somebody approached you and said, Hey, if you’re floating ducks down a little man-made river there, you might want to think about, uh, throwing some Jeep stuff in there because uh, there’s a, they put ducks on Jeeps. And, uh, I think, I think you were a little, as most people are, we’re a little surprised by that. I mean, the, the idea of putting a joke on a Jeep. I mean, what’s the connection, you know, a Jeep and a duck. It was, uh, that was part of this partnership that we had, uh, when we came in and we had, I had a couple friends that were putting rubber ducks on their Jeeps and I thought, what in the world are they doing? And, and realized, Oh, this is actually a thing. And people started talking to us about it and we realized, Oh, it makes a lot sense to partner, uh, this Jeep world with this rubber, rubber duck race that had been going on for 10 years already. Yeah. So how long do they, uh, how long has it been, uh, since they last through it in your face, that it was their idea and why you’re successful now because of them?
[00:02:45:00 – 00:02:46:14]
I think every year.
[00:02:49:24 – 00:02:55:18]
Of course, of course they wouldn’t, wouldn’t be friends if, uh, if they did otherwise. Right. Exactly.
[00:02:57:20 – 00:08:03:17]
All right. So, uh, I’m assuming it did do a big deal for you. I think, you know, we’ve talked about it before, so maybe I’m just assuming, but it was a significant difference for you when you brought the, uh, the Jeepers in. Right. Oh, it, it was a really, really big difference. Um, you know, the, the race itself, the rubber duck race itself had been, uh, you know, a community favorite for a really long time, but as time goes on, you know, the, the excitement about everything was kind of dying down. It was also right around COVID. And so things kind of shifted and we needed a change. We needed something right. That was going to kind of breathe some fresh air into this. So it was really kind of perfect timing to shift things. It used to be that the prize was, um, a trip. And then we said, okay, what if we, what if we did something crazy and we just had a Jeep, an actual four door Jeep to that prize instead. So, uh, the way you guys gave away the Jeep was you did a raffle. I think they were, was it, um, was it $10 you adopt the duck for $10? Yes. So you would adopt a duck for $10 and then we, you wouldn’t actually get a physical rubber duck that duck would go into our safekeeping. We would tell everyone that their duck would go into training. Uh, and then on the day of the race, we would put their pre-numbered duck into the fountains and all the ducks, thousands of ducks would race. And the first place duck would get the, would get the Jeep. Right. And I think it was like, uh, I don’t know about the first year that you were doing the ducks. I’m sorry, the first year we were giving away a Jeep, but, uh, in later years, there was actually a first, second and third place for the ducks. Yes. We always had a second pre second place prize was a thousand dollar gift card, a Visa gift card. And then the third place prize was a $500 gift card. So, um, that was still part of it from the get go. That was what we did. Yeah. I’m just laying out what, what you used to do, because we’re going to talk about what you’re doing now and folks don’t panic, it’s better. Um, so, uh, I think we’ve talked about this before. Um, and your group, uh, about giving that Jeep away. That’s a big prize. It’s very expensive. And it’s not like you, you, somebody had a lot of cash and said, Hey, go buy a Jeep. You had to sell tickets. Right. Uh, when we rolled out the new process, it was 2022 and 2021. The number of ducks sold that year was only 750 and those ducks were sold for $5. So we knew that in order to be right side up and giving away a $40,000 Jeep was going to require us to increase the price of the duck from $5 to $10, but then we had to sell a lot and, uh, we, it was a very, very large leap of faith, but we knew we could do it. And we ended up selling just short of 10,000, uh, rubber ducks that first year. Good. And, uh, you guys are a 501c charity. Is that correct? Yes. Both organizations are 501c3 organizations. Yes. So, uh, you were getting money to do, uh, I mean, to be a success with the, the event, of course, and pay for it. But ultimately, what were you hoping to do with the, uh, the additional money? If you, if you, if you made any money on it, what were you looking to do for the additional? The, the money that we would bring in. So we brought in money, uh, through the ducks that people were adopting, but then we also had sponsorships, uh, like group one and, uh, the, the Rockwall Jeep dealership and the city of Rockwall and four whole parts. We had a bunch of different sponsors that came in that also helped us cover a lot of the cost. And so by the end, the money that both organizations, um, we had a 50 50 split and both organizations were able to find different programs that they were doing. And so grace clinic provides medical care to families that are struggling to make ends meet. We, uh, charitably subsidized that medical care and we do, um, you know, mental health and cancer screenings and, uh, pediatric care and all types of things. And then the boys and girls clubs, uh, Northeast Texas do, uh, their educational programming. They, uh, you know, they run these large afterschool programs and afterschool camps, and then they run, uh, summer camps as well. So it was allowing both organizations to really, uh, you know, push some funding into those to, to make them work for the, for each year that we’ve done it. All right. So 2022, uh, first Jeep given away. Uh, did you do anything different in 2023 or was it the same basic formula?
[00:08:04:21 – 00:09:35:07]
In 2023, it was pretty much the same formula in 2024. We decided, wouldn’t it be cool if we modified it? Uh, and so we partnered with Mike Ethington with platinum off-road and he helped us modify it. He was putting, uh, a teraflex, um, lift. I have to remember. It’s a lift. Right. Yeah. The lift, and then we had 35 inch tires and you know, the shocks and the wheels and the tires and all that. I think you had some graphics, uh, uh, put it on as well. Right. From Janet, our, uh, former, uh, um, uh, chick chat. Yes. Oh, yes. We, she would put, uh, graciously, she would put all of the logos of the supporting sponsors were on the sides. We kind of give away. We had all the different logos of our top sponsors and, uh, yes. And she would put rubber duck regatta across the top of the Jeep. So she was a huge help on that side. Yes. Yeah. That’s really good. Good work over there. Um, okay. So, um, was it, um, you’d had some success. So I’m sure making modification. I know. And I think I was really happy whenever you told me about the last, when we did interview for that year, I was really happy that you guys were modifying the Jeep. I mean, a stock Jeep is, is a hell
[00:09:35:07 – 00:11:45:25]
a prize, but if you can get it ready to go on the trail, and even if you don’t take it on the trail, it shows that you, Hey, I’m ready to go. That type of thing. So that’s, that’s a big plus. It helped, uh, it helped the Jeep community kind of buy in a little bit more also to it because that was, um, kind of an added perk for them, especially because they were going out on the trails and they wanted to be able to, uh, win something that was good to go right away. Yeah. Yeah. I absolutely. Um, so, uh, that was really good. And I think that was an easy, easy way to go, but it’s always a challenge, isn’t it? You never know, uh, the economy, uh, people’s attitude about things, you know, if, uh, if they’re concerned about, uh, getting food on the table, this is, uh, this is kind of a good, a good escape, but it makes it difficult even when it’s a little bit of a priority and promoting things for people in the community. Every year, uh, we have those moments of stress where we, we think, okay. When you think about it and go, this isn’t going to work. It’s all a bit of food. Is this year going to work? And every year, uh, every year we end up, we end up okay. And we end up both organizations make money and we’re able to, you know, make money on things that we’re trying to do. And so it every year it works out. Yeah. That’s good. They’re glad that it does. Um, all right. So, uh, oh, I found this when I was doing some research, uh, voted best community event in Rockwell County, two years running. Yes. So the Rockwell County is right on Lake Ray Hubbard. The festival that we hold is actually right at the Harbor and it’s on the lake. So it’s gorgeous and it’s a lot of fun. We have thousands of people who come out and we do all kinds of fun things. And so for 2024 and 2025, we were rated best community event for Rockwell County. And we’re up for it again for 2026. So we’re, we’re hoping we get that too.
[00:11:47:07 – 00:11:49:05]
So, um, damn
[00:11:49:05 – 00:15:13:22]
I was going to ask you, oh, so I’m just kind of brushing over this. I think that I’ve never asked you, can you describe the man-made river? Because I don’t even have a good idea about what this thing is. I like, you know, is it a 50 foot duck race? But I know it’s not, but you know what I’m saying? People, people don’t understand that this is, this is a big deal in Rockwell. It’s a, it’s a fancy thing. That’s longer than a, uh, you know, a couple of feet. Yes. Uh, so at the Harbor, the area where the festival is held, there are, there’s about an acre worth of fountains that are, they start up on a, up high and then they, they graduate down into, uh, where the lake area is. And it’s in front of the Cinemark movie theater and it’s just this huge set of fountains. And so the ducks aren’t just racing, you know, racing down just a, a, a small little path. They’re literally having to, there’s, there’s waterfalls they have to go over and then there’s graduated steps, things that they have to go down as they make their way down each of the levels of the fountain down to the area where the winner’s tube is. So it’s, they they’ve got quite the, quite the race they have to do to get there. All right. Now I’ve got a Jeep talk show million dollar idea for you and it probably would cost you a million dollars. Um, you need to add tracking cheats chips to the ducks. Oh, you’ve heard this one. Yeah. And then, and then you bring in a British sports, uh, announcer and a little names come up, you know, who adopted the duck and it’s, it’s like a horse race, but it’s a duck race and you get a very excited announcer and make it a big deal out of it and also too, you can find all the missing ducks when the race is over. Yeah. We try to make sure we hold on to every duck because we use the same ducks every year. So we would, that would actually be really helpful. And we’ve, we’ve had people ask us to do that and then they can have an app and they can track where they’re. Yeah. No, it would be really cool, but ideas are easy. Yeah. It would be great if we had that ability to do that. Yes. At this point, we’re, we’re still kind of old school. They just float. Of course. Well, there’s so many, how many, how many ducks are there? Is it a duck per person or yeah, I guess, I guess that’s the way you have to do it. Right. The way that we have done it in the past is that you could purchase as many ducks as you wanted. Um, each duck has a number on it and that duck allowed you to have, you know, one entry into the race and you could buy as many entries as you wanted into the race. And, but I mean, you’re not dumping 50,000 ducks in there because you could have a bunch of winners that didn’t, weren’t adopted. So you, you do a one to one. Correct. So though the way that we have worked it is we would have, uh, like last year we had 10 over 10,000 ducks. And so there are, um, you know, we, we jump as many ducks as we, you know, we have them in these pre-numbered bags. And so we would. Dump a bunch of ducks in that match the numbers and then let them run. Let them run.
[00:15:14:27 – 00:18:04:15]
No, that’s gotta be a nightmare. Um, just keeping up with all that stuff. Uh, because well, and number one, just keeping this, getting the right number of ducks for the number of entries. And then having all those things assigned, I mean, you can kind of do a, uh, I guess a random number generator to pick who gets what duck that doesn’t really matter. Uh, one ducks not faster than the other. And I’m sure all the ducks are the same. Uh, no unfair advantages. Yes. The, we tried really hard. Um, that was one of the complaints that people had was that in order to keep it random and not have it, not have it affect how we put the ducks in the fountain. So if we, if we put the ducks one through 1000 in first, then that in theory would give those people who purchase early an advantage. So we waited till the duck race entries closed. And then we would compile all the entries and, and ran into a randomizer at that point, and then we would send bulk email out to everyone with the breakdown of here’s what your duck number is. Uh, what we ran into as we had more and more people jumping into this was that, um, the emails we were sending out. Some were going into spam. Some were junk and some were just never even delivered. They got stopped at the platform, uh, as, as, as suspected spam and never even made it into the, to the person’s account at all. So that was, that was a logistics issue that we struggled with for sure. Would there be a downside to putting a like a first name last initial, uh, on the website and the duck number so that people could actually go to the site and you know, because people, people don’t even read their email anymore. Cause it’s so much spam. Right. Um, at the time, yes, we, we probably could. And, and at the time that we’re doing it, we have one hour and we are, we’re very small team and we’re trying to compile everything. I can’t see the logistics of this thing working out. I really can’t. That’s 10,000 ducks. It was tricky, uh, just making sure, just trying to get the batch emails out and then also running the duck race. Cause there’s only three to four of us that are out there and we’re having to actually live stream the race. We’re also having to, um, you know, deal with the ducks themselves, making sure they’re getting going. And so it’s it that we needed to make a change. I make it, I’m making you stressed just by talking about all this, making you live through it.
[00:18:06:17 – 00:18:24:18]
Well, anyway, it worked out, but I, I, I like the idea of people understanding. This isn’t like, um, uh, I always make this joke. Nobody gets it from old movies. Uh, uh, Mickey Rooney and these movies, Hey, my dad’s got a bar and let’s put on a show it’s more complex than just a half
[00:18:24:18 – 00:18:58:04]
idea that you’re going to do this stuff. I mean, just the idea of the prizes is, is a difficult thing. And I’m sure you run across people that are providing the prizes and sponsors and vendors and stuff, they, they want their thing for being a part of this. And you have to, uh, you have to either tell them no or appease them in some way. So this is a big deal. It’s it’s, it’s a lot of work. I mean, it sounds like it’s a lot of fun. Um, oh, I remember what I was going to ask you. So the, the fountain system. How long does it take a duck from start to finish?
[00:18:59:06 – 00:19:59:29]
So typically the race is about 20 minutes from start to start to finish. Yeah. They have to go down, I think three different, uh, three different levels. And it takes them a bit to do that. And then the more and more and more ducks that we were putting in the fountain, the harder it was for those ducks to keep moving. Oh, yeah. They were, it was getting real private. Yeah. They were being lazy and congregating around the water cooler. Um, so, um, the, uh, I feel like I’ve asked this in the past, but it, it, it concerns me, how do you keep the kids? Cause this is a big event that you guys have. So people can come and be part of the duck race and, and, uh, see the vendors that are there, eat the food, enjoy rock wall, uh, rock wall, Texas. And, um, but how do you keep the kids from grabbing the ducks? So it, that has been a challenge in the past. We do have signage everywhere that, that. I don’t give a damn
[00:19:59:29 – 00:20:20:11]
about, no, your, your signs. It’s, uh, it, it, it has proven to be, uh, one of those things where we have the MCs announce it, we’re, uh, sending emails out, making sure people know these are ducks that we reuse every year. And so we need to make sure that we keep them all. We have volunteers that are
[00:20:20:11 – 00:22:01:03]
is you guys? Who cares if you, if you lose a duck? I’m talking about the person that adopted that duck and now has been ducknapped. And it’s not going to complete the race. That was one of the risks as well. Uh, and, and why, one of the many reasons why we may, we decided to kind of flip things around for 2026. Yeah. Okay. Let’s get into that. Now you guys have some made some changes. Uh, and you just said, this is one of the reasons why you made the changes. Uh, actually let’s hit that first. What were the downsides that you were having and this has made a correction to the downsides that you were having. What did you do? So there were a couple of downsides. The duck race numbers and the amount of numbers that were going into spam were that was causing a lot of frustration. That was something that at the moment that it was occurring, we, we, there was nothing we could do. We knew that their number was in the race. We knew that we had their number, but then making sure that we went back after we were spending days trying to get back to people and letting them know what their race numbers were, uh, and trying to get their emails to them. And so it, it was just a poll, a really large poll on our resources. And it was creating that frustration for the user experience as well. And then one of the things about, um, Texas and the charitable raffle laws, or there are limits to how much you can give away and, and really,
[00:22:02:10 – 00:24:16:05]
so you cannot give away more than $75,000 of purchased prize. And we purchased the prizes and you could not give away money. Um, and we wanted to be able to give away money and so that people could pay for the tax, the title, the license, you know, all the aspects of, um, winning a prize that will come hard for some people. And so that those two things alone, plus the, the size of the, the number of ducks and the logics, the logistics of managing all of those ducks and making sure that we got them all back every year, it just became a point where this is, there’s gotta be a better way. There’s gotta be a better way. Yeah. Um, so did you guys have, uh, the state of Texas come to you or did you, did somebody, uh, alert you to this? No, we, no one alerted us to it. It was one of those things where there were enough frustrations after last year’s event that we went out on our own and began researching and learning and saying, okay, there is, there’s another way that we can do this, which will actually open us up to a lot more freedom as well. And, and so that we, we spent quite a bit of time trying to make sure we, we learned exactly what we needed to do to be able to make it even more fun, a better prize, um, and still do the duck race, but do the duck race, uh, and, and go back to the roots of just family fun, friendly, less stress because the, the duck race for the Jeep was creating a bit of stress for people. And so we wanted to just remove all of that. Okay. So, um, I’ll just remind everybody that gets pissed off whenever you don’t win something or you call into question a bunch of, a bunch of things. This is a charity of the idea is for you to give money to a charity. So if you give money to a charity, that’s the main part, the good part, the thing you should focus on, not that you didn’t win a
[00:24:16:05 – 00:24:42:26]
Jeep. All right. So I think people may be hearing, what there’s no Jeep giveaway this year. I’m never going to win it, but I still want to have the opportunity. So let’s get into it now. It has changed and I’m glad that I asked you about why you changed it because it makes sense now. I had no idea there was limits. I mean, there’s a limit on how much money you can give away. How many prizes you gave away. I mean, this is, that’s ridiculous. That’s anti-American.
[00:24:44:09 – 00:27:06:17]
And you know, every state’s laws are different and we, you know, we just took some time to make sure that what we were doing, uh, and what we were trying to do was going to fall in line. And, and so this new process is, uh, we’re just switching from a raffle to a sweep stakes and the sweepstakes gives us quite a bit more freedom to give away larger prizes and, and not tie things directly to a duck in the race. So if you’re a duck, as you say, got duck napped and someone had taken it, uh, you don’t have to worry about that in this situation. Everything is, is still in the, it’s in, it’s in the drawing no matter what. All right. Let’s talk about the sweepstakes. What, what, what has changed as far as how your, what are you, what are you, can you still call it a giveaway or what are the prizes in the sweepstakes? I guess it would be the proper way of saying it. So typically we were, we were giving away a four door Jeep Wrangler for that year. So this year there is still a 2026 four door Jeep Wrangler. It’s a Mojito green. It’s bright green. And then behind it, there’s also a Yamaha VX Deluxe Wave Runner. And that comes with a trailer and a cover and then also $10,000. So it’s, it, it’s up to our, our prize and, and we’re here for it. Really. We’re excited about it. So let me ask you about this. There’s rumor that whoever wins the Yamaha, um, um, God, what’d you just, you just said it, what’s it called? The Wave Runner. Yeah. The Wave Runner. Um, whoever wins the Wave Runner actually gets to take it down the track or where the ducks went down the fountains. So is, uh, is that true? Cause that would be pretty good. That that’s some good video for next year. It’s, uh, unfortunately the drawing will not be done at the same time as the regatta or maybe fortunately, uh, the new sweepstakes kicks off. It’s a jet ski, right? The Wave Runner’s a jet ski. Yeah. It’s, it’s just a two person or three person actually. Uh, I had no idea.
[00:27:08:03 – 00:27:33:08]
They call those Wave Runners. Uh, but yes, it’s, uh, so the sweepstakes actually kicks off on September 30th and it’ll go through March 23rd. And then we’ll do the drawing. The way a sweepstakes works is that you have to do the drawing, um, five to seven days after, so that’s one of the requirements that we have to make sure that we stick with. So we’ll do this.
[00:27:33:08 – 00:27:37:05]
Lawmakers screwing things up. We’re just trying to have fun. You people just shut the hell
[00:27:37:05 – 00:28:46:07]
up. Yeah. So, so you don’t adopt a duck this year. Is that correct? So we made a shift and we knew that making that shift could come with, um, you know, people sad to not have that duck race. And so we decided that it would be crazy to not have that duck race. That is a big part of our community. It’s gotta be just a visual delight, especially for the kids and the adults will admit it, but for them as well. Yes. It’s, it’s a lot of fun and it brings out a lot of people and we wanted to continue to do that. So we decided that we would purchase several of the prizes this year, but let’s make the ducks free. So now you can still enter the duck race and you can enter the duck race for free. And we have, um, and then on the day of the event, so everyone gets one free duck, if they fill out the form and I can send the form over and then at if you come to the event on October 10th at the Harbor, the actual rubber duck regatta and Jeep festival, then you can get a lot more free ducks that day.
[00:28:47:23 – 00:30:38:07]
So you can end up with tons of free ducks in the race and the prizes are more family focused and family adventure, uh, that you can win a trip for four to safari in and, uh, stay in a hotel on their property and it’s, uh, giraffes, you know, it’s all types of fun stuff that you can do there. And then there’s a, uh, backyard patio where we are giving away, um, Adirondack chairs and barbecue, excuse me, a fire pit and s’mores makings and just all that fun stuff. And then the third place duck will get, um, a family adventure day with go-kart riding and a restaurant and just all kinds of family fun bowling, all of that. So it’s, it’s kind of, uh, putting the focus back on, you know, the, the family and doing fun adventures that way it’s free to enter the race. The rubber duck regatta and Jeep festival itself will still have a Jeep show. There’s still a huge kid zone. There’s still live music. There’s vendors, there’s games. Uh, there’s all types of fun things to do that day. Great food, food trucks. Um, so, you know, it’s still going to be the same fun that it was and we’ll actually have the, the Jeep and the wave runner out that day so people can come and look at it and see what they can win. And then they can enter the sweepstakes if they want, uh, at that time. So a little trick, you can, uh, hook up the, uh, the way runner trailer to the Jeep and people will think that that’s the price. Oh, I’m going to have that. That’s a great combo. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I see your confusion.
[00:30:41:03 – 00:36:50:05]
Um, so let me make sure I understand this. And so every, anyone can get a free duck, uh, and there’s, I’m sure there’s a limit on it because you could have a hundred thousand people wanting a free duck. Yes. So we have in our storage, 25,000 ducks. So we cut it off at 25. All right. So first come first serve, you get a free duck and, and you still win. There’s a race and you still win. It’s just not these huge prizes that were there before. Cause that’s part of the sweepstakes. Yes. But there, there, but there still are prizes for the race. So it’s not just cheering on a, a duck. You’re actually cheering it on and you may make it something. Oh, that’s cool. That’s really cool. Yeah. So how does the sweepstakes work? I mean, uh, it’s not connected to the ducks at all. It sounds like. No. Um, although we have decided that anyone who does when the duck race will, I will actually give them entries into the sweepstakes as well, you know, grow in a couple of entries, the sweepstakes for that. But, um, we, we have, cause it’s two organizations that have partnered and of that, the name of our partnership is driving for good. And so it will be driving for good.org. That’s where you would go to learn more about the sweepstakes, learn more about the two nonprofit organizations and see the prize and you would enter there. And then through the six months that the sweepstakes is running, we will have flash sales, um, where you can get extra entries into the sweepstakes or, you know, some other really cool thing that we’ve partnered with a sponsor on. Um, and, and, you know, so those are all kind of things that you can watch and enjoy along the way over the next six months. So we’re, we’re taking what was, uh, an event in October and we’re, we’re now pushing our fun from now until the end of March. Got you. So, uh, I don’t think I have the right website, uh, that you guys have used where you could go and buy, uh, or adopt a duck. Uh, is it a rock wall, uh, grace center.org or it’s rock wall duck race. Yeah. That’s what I was thinking. Right. Rock wall duck race.org. All right. So can people, that’s the one that people that have been here before know, know where to go to, can they go there and get, uh, there’s their link where you can go over to the sweepstakes. Yes. So you can go to the sweepstakes from rock wall duck race.org. There’s a button there to get you to driving for good.org. And then there’s also, um, a place on the site where you can get your free duck in the race. Perfect. Yeah. I figured that’s what you, I figured that’s what you guys did, but there was a panic. People are looking for a pencil. Oh, I gotta go here. Gotta go. No, no, just go to the same place that you’ve been before. If you’ve ever been there, just go to this place and then, uh, read and follow and you’ll, you’ll be okay. So getting into the sweepstakes, what do you, is it, we’re not adopting a duck. So is it still $10? Is it a different amount or is there no money whatsoever? I mean, I don’t know. To enter the sweepstakes is, um, instead of one entry for $25, you get 18 entry. Excuse me. One entry for $10. You get 18 entries for $25. And when we do, uh, when we have flash sales running that may, that may even increase that may double it, it just kind of depends, but it’s, uh, yeah. So the minimum entry is going to be now $25 and the prize value has gone up to over $82,000. Very cool. All right. So, uh, when you do these flash, uh, flash sales, I think you said, where would somebody know about that? Would they have to go to the website? Is it on social media? How do they monitor this? It’s, it’s going to be everywhere. So there’s a driving for good.org website. Then there’s the social media, the social media with the rubber duck regatta and Jeep festival will also continue to focus on, on that giveaway. And when we’re running prizes, and then also if we have your email address, we’ll kind of shoot you a heads up. This is a, uh, you know, a time for a flash sale. Gotcha. Um, so I hate to put you in this position. It’s a little confusing for me. So I’m sure it’s going to be confusing for the people out there, especially the, they, they’ve been used to it doing being really, really, very simple, adopt a duck and that’s it and adopt a bunch of ducks and your chances go up. So, um, you can still get a duck going and go through that process and, and, and also to the time changes, because it used to be the event and then there was a winner and that’s not the case anymore. I just, I didn’t know about that until you just mentioned it. So can you go through the process so people understand what’s going on? Yeah. So the festival itself is still being held. It’s on Saturday, October 10th at the Harbor in Rockwall. It starts at 11 and it goes until four when the ducks kick off. And so the duck race is still happening. You can get your ducks for free and those ducks will race for different prizes than what we’ve done in over the past four years. So we will no longer be racing for a Jeep. And so, but on that day, if you come out, you will be able to see the Jeep with the wave runner and that is now connected to the driving for good sweepstakes. And the driving for good sweepstakes kicks off at the end of September on September 30th, and it’ll go through March where people can enter for over a six month timeframe and then we’ll give that huge prize away in September. I mean, so excuse me on March 30th. So 2027 next year. Yeah. I mean, duh, but I mean, you got to make it clear.
[00:36:51:27 – 00:36:54:29]
Really? It already happened? No, no, no, no. Think about it.
[00:36:57:00 – 00:38:31:08]
All right. So, uh, and you can go to the one website to do all this. What was the, what was it again? I don’t want to say it wrong. So you can go to rockwall duck race.org and you can get a link to fill out a form for your free duck in the race. And you can also see a button there that’ll bring you to the new driving for good sweepstakes and see the Jeep that we’re giving away and the wave runner. And then of course the $10,000. So that’s really cool. You got something, you have an event, you can go out there with your Jeep and the kids, uh, and, uh, have a good day. You guys are going to have, you got food vendors. Uh, rockwall itself has restaurants. Uh, that it’s a beautiful city. Uh, there’s going to be stuff going on there. Uh, do you have vendors? I can’t remember if you have, uh, vendors like Jeep vendors and stuff. Yes. We have Jeep vendors. We have not Jeep vendors. We have, um, all, all kinds of fun, unique things. And, uh, there’s live music. There’s, uh, the kid zone is huge. Uh, like I said, it’s right at the harbor. So it’s on, it’s right on the banks of Lake Ray Hubbard. It’s beautiful out there. Um, the city of Rockwall is just really a fun place to be and being right on the lake and it’s, it’s just a great place in Texas to visit. Yeah. Um, all right. There’s fun things to do, but the fun, uh, doesn’t end whenever the, the duck race is over. It continues on, uh, with, uh, hopes and dreams, uh, for the next six months.
[00:38:32:13 – 00:39:14:23]
Yeah. And you may, you may want to Jeep now in past years, or I guess it was a lot of the last two years, correct me on this. You guys have actually modified the Jeep for off-road use. Uh, I mean, it’s a Jeep it’s off-road already, but you put the cool stuff that everybody loves to buy and add on there. Are you doing that with the Jeep this year or is there going to be a plane Jeep? It’s already done. Yes. We have the Jeep. Uh, it has been, um, made off-road ready by Mike at Platinum Off-Road again. And yes, it’s gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. Did you have any problems, uh, getting Mike to answer his phone? He goes, Oh, I know why these people are calling. I know why they’re calling.
[00:39:16:07 – 00:43:47:13]
Every year I pressure Mike to get it done earlier and earlier. And he was like a customer. Yeah. Yeah. And, and he does it, you know, at no charge to us. That’s, that’s part of his sponsorship with us. And we’re very, very grateful to have him and, and group one, of course, uh, the dealership, they’re just, uh, they’ve been amazing, easy to work with. We’ve had Mike on the show before, uh, good guy. Uh, and, uh, he has a lot of fun, uh, building a Jeep. So he’s, he’s one of those few fortunate people that gets to do something that’s, uh, that it’s fun. Uh, I am, I’m sure, I’m sure there’s challenges, but it wouldn’t be work if there was no challenge. Right. I, I have always, uh, call Mike our first domino because he was, when we first started thinking about doing the, the Jeep aspect and giving away the Jeep, he was, uh, the first person that was recommended for us to talk to. And so we met with him one afternoon and we kind of pitched the idea to him. And then he started connecting us to all these different people. And we, we couldn’t have done it if we didn’t have him and his buy-in and him working with us, so we’ve been really grateful to have Mike all these years. All right. So we’ve covered the, the money we’ve covered the fund, the event, we’ve covered the sweepstake. Let’s remind people what this really is all for. Tell people what the charity is again and what they’re, what they’re buying for their, their, uh, inclusion into this process. So both of our organizations, Grace Clinic is ours. We’re in Rockwall County and we help families that are struggling because, uh, you know, the price of gas, the price of groceries, the price of everything has gone up and families are just very much feeling the squeeze. And having to decide between medical care and paying their electricity bill. And so what we do is we, we don’t want an illness to stop someone, you know, we don’t want finances to stop someone from treating an illness. And so we will work with those families and we charitably subsidize the cost of the medical care. Um, in order to do that, we have to have support from the community through community events like this, because we still have to pay for our doctors and we still have to pay, uh, you know, all the costs associated with running, uh, a healthcare clinic. So these types of events help us to do that. And then the boys and girls clubs of Northeast Texas, it’s the same thing. There’s a huge amount of need in our community now for safe spaces for kids to play and to have educational programming and fun field trips and things like that. And that’s what they’re providing to, uh, Rockwell County and, and, and, and other areas of Northeast Texas as well. So the, the donations that come in for this are focused on their Rockwell County, uh, clubs, and then our Rockwell County, uh, health clinic. So I’ll just mention this, uh, and you can correct me on this. Uh, but when you help a kid out, uh, you may think, oh good. They get to go to a trip. They get to do whatever, but it’s a lot more than that. You don’t know what the background, what the life of that child is. And this can be a confidence builder. This can make them feel like they are, um, worthy of being part of the society and want to be a part of the society that is a positive part of the society. So helping these charities out that help kids out, uh, I think has long-term benefits. It’s, it’s not a, it’s not a guarantee, but it’s actually you trying to do something to, uh, make it better for the community or wherever they move to. So I think this is prizes are fun and you need that, uh, that little carrot on the stick, uh, sometimes to do the right thing. Uh, so if you’re thinking about doing this, go, Oh, I never went, Oh, there’s no reason for me to do this. Yes, there is. And it has nothing to do with you. Uh, indirectly it does because that kid may not mug you in the future because they feel, because they feel like they’re worth more than somebody that has to, uh, be a, uh, sucking
[00:43:47:13 – 00:43:49:15]
off of a society’s a hind tits.
[00:43:49:15 – 00:45:08:26]
So, um, yeah, uh, do the right thing. And, uh, maybe you’ll, you’ll get a bonus out of the process. Two bonuses. Yeah, you could, we have three great prizes to win for the duck race and it is completely free to enter that. And then the sweepstakes, the driving for good sweepstakes is, you know, over 82 grand in prize value. So it’s, it’s definitely, it’s a, it’s a chance that you’re taking, but like what you said at the end of the day, if you don’t win, you’re still doing good. You’re still the winner. So, uh, and I think it’s great that, uh, it’s a lot easier to just, just to do nothing or something a lot smaller. Uh, there’s, I mean, um, you’re talking people into people you work for or work with you, you’re talking to them into taking a chance. So thank you for doing this. I’m glad it’s successful for you year after year, but thank you for doing this. Cause there’s much easier ways to, uh, go to work and just come home and, uh, you know, veg out. It’s, it’s, uh, it’s a lot of fun. We, we both organizations work really well together. We’re very blessed to have been doing this for, this is our fifth year that we’ve done this together. And it’s, it’s a lot of fun. It is a lot of work. I will say that. I didn’t realize that we had you on year one. That’s really cool.
[00:45:10:16 – 00:45:43:10]
Yeah. This is our fifth year of giving away a Jeep. Uh, and, and, you know, we like to change things up. So now we’re switching how we’re doing it. But you’re keeping your, you’re keeping, giving the Jeep away. When we first got on here and started talking, I was like, Oh no, you’re not giving away the Jeep. That sucks. Cause I’m sure people are excited about this every year. Cause they want to see, especially whenever it’s a stock Jeep and then all of a sudden it’s a modified Jeep. And I was, when I asked you that question about this year, I was hoping you weren’t going to say, Oh no, it’s just going to be a plain Jeep. Oh no.
[00:45:45:08 – 00:46:04:07]
It’s, it’s already, it’s already lifted. Anytime I have to drive it around to take video. I was going to ask if you’ve been driving it. Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s a pretty high up there and, uh, it’s got beautiful, beautiful tires that are just begging to go crawling. When are you going to get a Jeep?
[00:46:05:13 – 00:46:06:10]
Oh gosh.
[00:46:07:22 – 00:46:18:01]
You’re going to see if you win this one first, right? I, you know, I tell people all the time, I drive a new Jeep every year for five months. And so it’s really hard to think.
[00:46:20:15 – 00:48:18:23]
It’s pretty nice. Yeah. Five months. I mean, it’s not 12, but you know, five is pretty good. Yeah. All right. You see, all right. So now the kids love the social media. We’ve kind of given hints to this stuff. So, uh, where can people, uh, uh, find the primary, cause there’s a couple of sites now, where’s the primary, this, we’re going to try to keep it simple. Yes. So, uh, the, the Facebook, Instagram, it’s, it’s the Rockwell duck race. So you can either, you can either search for Rockwell duck race, or you can search for rubber duck regatta and Jeep festival, and you’ll, it’ll get you there. And that’s on tick tock. That’s on, uh, YouTube. It’s Facebook, Instagram, you know, all, all the platforms. So, and the, the website again is rockwell. Duck race.org. Okay. And on YouTube, if somebody wants to get a sense of the race and what to expect, they’ve never been, uh, do you have that on YouTube? You do, don’t you? Or Facebook or both? Right. All, all of them. So you can go to our YouTube channel and you can see videos there. You can go to our Facebook page at the at Rockwell duck race or Instagram, pretty much anywhere, and you can see the videos and, and then I would recommend following driving for good also. And that will let you see more of the videos and content for this year’s giveaway and the wave runner and all the additional pieces. All right, Mary. So what’s changing for next year? Give us the inside scoop on what you’re, what you’re changing, what you’re adding, uh, a second Jeep, uh, uh, his and hers, uh, uh, wave runners. Uh, what are you going to do? It’s going to be bigger. I typically get struck with ideas about sometime right around new year’s day. Yeah.
[00:48:20:06 – 00:50:05:22]
What should we give away? Uh, we, we played around with a couple of ideas. Um, you know, an RV we’ve played, you know, pulling behind a Jeep. Uh, we’ve played around with a matching golf cart. Uh, we’ve, you know, pulling behind the Jeep, all kinds of fun things, but you know, it’s always the right prize and always the right size, a nice big bar of gold. So I think that you would probably get a lot of press, uh, on that. Uh, you can probably, you can probably even get it, uh, stamped Fort Knox, which I think that would increase the value. Do you think? All right, Mary. Amazon. Yeah. There you go. All right, Mary will, uh, really appreciate you being here. Good luck. It sounds like you guys are doing a don’t need much luck for all the time and effort that you guys put into it. Uh, but, uh, we’ll be, uh, we’ll be watching and seeing how things turn out for you again this year. Yeah, that sounds great. And if you, if you come out on Saturday, October 10th to the harbor, uh, I’ll be out there, so come say hi. Do they, uh, do the people need to be there to win the prizes, not the sweep sake one, but the win the prizes for the, with the free duck. Nope. Nope. You do not have to be present to win. So you can get your free duck from the form and on the website, and then you can just watch along on our social media and see if you win. So do you allow people to take pictures of, uh, like in front of the Jeep, the giveaway Jeep? Oh, yes. So I’m thinking that people are going to take a picture and say, I knew I was going to win it and here’s my proof. I took a picture. So go out there, go to the site, get a picture of the, uh, of the Jeep, the giveaway, and make sure you tag Jeep talk show. Or as I like to say, a pound Jeep talk show.
[00:50:06:23 – 00:50:11:03]
All right, Mary, thank you very much. And we really appreciate being here year after year.
[00:50:12:07 – 00:50:12:14]
Thank
[00:50:14:08 – 00:50:16:05]
You’re my friend, you’re my new friend.
[00:50:16:05 – 00:51:03:02]
XJTalk.com LLC and the Jeep Talk Show podcast is attended for entertainment purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by the hosts, guests and contributors are their own and do not represent professional advice, endorsements or recommendations. We strongly advise consulting a licensed or certified mechanic or automotive professional for any repairs, modifications or maintenance to your vehicle. By listening to or using any information provided on this show, you assume full responsibility for your actions and any resulting consequences, including potential risks to safety, property or legal compliance. The Jeep Talk Show and its affiliates disclaim all liability for any damages or losses arising from the application of this content.
