CALEB NICKERSON
FORT COULONGE
Aug. 12, 2018
On Sunday, residents of Fort Coulonge and Mansfield gathered at the bridge across the Coulonge River for the start of a new tradition.
The first duck race in support of local women’s shelter L’EntourElle was a success, selling around 750 tickets on rubber ducks to float down the river.

Participants could either opt for a full grown waterfowl for $5 or combo it with a smaller duckling for $7. The rubber bath toys were gathered in plastic bags and hauled by boat a few hundred metres upriver to be deployed. Both Mansfield Mayor Gilles Dionne and Fort Coulonge Mayor Gaston Allard were a part of the detail on the dinghy determining the ducks’ departure.
Organizer Kim Laroche explained that the money raised by the event would go towards purchasing children’s toys for the shelter.
“All our toys are really old or used,” she said. “We have about 35 children that come through L’EntourElle every year. So imagine 35 children playing with the same toys.”