Duck Drivers

Guests of RISE Adventure’s End of Summer Bash in Meadowmere Park got a chance to storm the beaches of Grapevine. A non-profit organization establishing a number of sporting and recreational activities for the physically challenged had their chance to be the captain of the WWII Duck boat. The registered members were able to take the wheel and recreate a sensation that the soldiers of WWII must have felt.

Hundreds of excited guests drove the duck on short military rides as the duck maneuvered its way in and out of the lake.  The renovated military ducks in Grapevine were manufactured just one month after WWII and did not get a chance storm the beaches of Normandy. However the ducks have seen action in the Mississippi River floods of 1993 and pulled individuals to safety during the 2005 Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Visit www.RiseAdventures.org for more information.

 

The Cottonwood Creek Homecoming parade in Coppell may have broke the World Record. The entire group of 5^th graders joined together in unison for a memory that will never be forgotten. After hooting and howling along the parade route, the future Cowboys will always remember the closeness they felt on that day. Thanks for the memories Dr. Penny, Dads Club and all the hugging teachers including Miss Augustine.  

 

Previously orphaned Russian students got a chance to ride the duck while traveling away from their home country during their 14-day stay in the US. The caring sponsors and Jeannie from spokenfor.org allowed all the previous orphaned kids now aged 14 or over to quack along in the duck boat. The translation of quack into English was quite obvious; however stories of Bonnie & Clyde, Sam Bass, Dunnville, Leonard, Morehead and Suggsville were loosely translated by a fantastic 15-year old translator.

The great story of this young adult was at an early age he had a severe speech impediment while living in an orphan with over 100 kids and had several surgeries to help improve his spoken word. The New York Yankee hat bearing translator was waiting on the edge of his seat for every one of my words. I was worried that the corny, sarcastic, out there dialog would be mistranslated, however he delivered to perfection. His timing was so superb and translated the most difficult words without hesitation, he had everyone on the duck involved and anxiously waiting for the line. I knew my delivery was not anywhere as good as his impromptu funnies as he got a big roar from the Russian speaking group after every translation 

I loved these kids and appreciate what spokenfor.org is doing, I hope to get a chance to see these kids again so I can experience their joy for life and see them try to remember the words to their Russian National Anthem again.

Jonas Brothers on a Duck, living the dream.

 

Duck Driver asks Frankie what he wants to do when he grows up? "To invent things for the military" as he was captain of the WWII Duck.

The War Duck was filling up with a group of crazy young and old Duck Riders, after the previous night’s rainout the party got started at 9pm in front of the Dr. Pepper Star Center. The private charter of characters ranged from me, the old fun loving ‘Duck Driver’ to the young teenage sisters of the famous hockey star “Adam”. The Duck was supervised by “Lipper” and navigated by the quick thinker in training, making sure no child or Toyota was left behind as he navigated the crew on a 6-hour tour. The GPS coordinates locked us in with stops made in order of priority. The beer store; girlfriend’s apartment; Monkey Island; the center of lake followed with late night dinning at Steak and Shake. 

After going from truck to boat, to truck again we fled the land scene for a final swim session as the day finally cooled off. Flip Phones, Lime Bombers and Neon Color Coded People were all seen free falling through the night sky. ‘It was the best day of my life’ says Flipper who was able to stay dry through out the journey. The crew was well represented from Grapevine’s finest, including Zamboni Drivers, Hockey Players, waitresses from Cutie Pies and the staff of the Dr. Pepper Star Center. 

All waypoints were navigated by the crew through the wee hours of the morning, even after the tunes had faded into the night. The trip was an all out escape from the norm and no injures or any cases of the Cypt were reported. I even hear rumors that Swim Night II is being planned, including a special appearance from a Black Hawk, Sherman Tank, Sea Plane or Chuck Berry singing more ding-a-ling songs. 

The managers of Central Market in Southlake are creative people pleasing people. Their idea of attracting customers to their store for their store wide seafood event included the duck boat. The Go Coastal theme had the managers out on the duck boat looking for a fresh local supply of new and interesting seafood in Lake Grapevine.

The group of 20 managers headed to lake only to find the Loch Ness Monster, Sponge Bob and Square Pants.  The duck tour via Southlake found water at Paradise Cove but could not find any seafood up to The Central Market’s standards; maybe a trip to the Gulf of Mexico will be their next outing. Since the managers did not catch the fish of the day, they did get a hoot out of the GM trying to reel the duck back to shore without the wheels engaged. Several other adventurous tours departed from the parking lot during the event, one three hour tour as the guests aboard agreed to take a trip over to Little Pete’s for some seafood and another one looking for some Sunday afternoon fun as we splashed into the lake military style. If you are in need for fresh quality seafood, please visit CentralMarket, the duck boat is your destination for duck soup.

Duck game was played out over several days. A late night phone call on the Duck Line was from a group of kids who saw the duck parked at Central Market for the Go Coastal promotion.  I thought I would have a little fun when I called him back at 2am and started quacking at him.

He was amazed that I knew he was looking at our duck and wondering what it was. So I gave him a challenge and offered him a big prize by finding three duck boats, medium prize for finding two and a small for the one he found in Southlake.

I thought I would never her from him as I toiled with his mind by playing duck quacks for his friends and duck songs for 20 minutes in his late night episode.
The next day he called and wanted more hints, I gave him the choice between Chicago or Grapevine. He opted to call his friend in Chicago and told me he was flying down with proof of a Chicago duck boat. He really wanted to win the big prize or was giving me a taste of my own medicine.

The next day he called again and wanted to win the big prize and wanted more hints on where to find another duck. The medium prize was already in his reach as were doing sunset tours on the lake I gave him a chance to claim the big prize. He was to meet me in the middle of the lake and take a picture of us at sunset.
I am still waiting on him to call back or show up so I can deliver him his big prize.

A youth group from Fort Worth tried to get their group on the duck for over a year and they finally were able to experience the fun of the duck boat on a summer afternoon. The middle school youth group were happy to get on the open air duck. The were happy and enjoyed being outside and on the lake on the open air of the duck boat as they drove 45 minutes aboard the church bus and the air conditioning was broke. Richard, the youth pastor took the captains role and drove as the youth as they jeered him. They danced to Taylor Swift and sang the top Christian hits throughout the tour, it was a youth group Karoke at its best.

Two large extended families filled the duck. An Indian family wanted to share their American lifestyle to their parents and family about the open air duck. At first the Indianan family was cautious and quiet and a little nervous as I left the helm. Eventually Mom and daughter drove duck and by the end of the tour they were sitting their kids on the edge of the duck taking pictures. The American family mixed in with the group, they were from Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska and Texas. The grandpa sat right up front and examined all mechanics of the duck. The 15 year old grand kid was a serious wake boarder and his granddaughter was a esteemed singer and entertainer. Grandma was so proud of having her family in a fun environment for all ages, she was bragging about the grandkids accomplishments throughout the tour. The adults on board got a kick out of how the 15 year old boy knew all the words to Jimmy Buffett's Margaretville.