A duck goes to the Pharmacist and asks, "Do you have any chapstick?"
The Pharmacist says, "Sure, do you want that on your bill?"

Okay, it's a stupid joke. I know it and you know it and Captain Dewey Party (a.k.a. Mike), who told it knew it. It is all part of the experience when you Ride The Ducks.

In August, the Fremont Chamber general 'meeting' takes to the sea when members gather to ride a DUKW, or 'Duck', an authentic World War II amphibious craft. 'Ride' might be a nice way of putting 'hijack.' The genuine Ride The Ducks sets off from Seattle Center daily with a route that hits all the tourist hotspots before it toddles down to Fremont and a dip in Lake Union.

August Meeting Has Drifting Theme

For the August Chamber meeting, one or two of these crafts (the number depends on the R.S.V.P.'s we collect ahead of time) drive up to History House and once everyone boards, the destination could be anyone's guess. Captain Dewey Party, or any of the other officially licensed sea captains that pilot the DUKWs, leave it up to the riders to decide. Usually the tour includes a trip on Lake Union, and I recommend slipping under the Fremont Bridge and gliding along our section of the ship canal.

For a Chamber of Commerce that accomplishes as much as we do, here in Fremont, you'd never know it by our August general meeting agenda. Of course, the fact that we actually meet in August shows our diligence to at least give lip service to work. Why ruin a sunny summer evening with the actual taxing mental concentration of a real topic?

Networking On A Duck Breeds Fun and Function

One year the Board of Directors for History House joined Chamber members on a ride. Rather than each group getting their own vehicle, the two mixed and hilarious results ensued. Networking at a cocktail party or luncheon can be stiff and dignified. Networking on a Duck, well, it can't be. I know I ended up splashed (deliberately), grinning and dazzled by Fremont fellowship that time - and I heard I'd ridden on the conservative, well-behaved boat.

Besides the normal absurdity that always ensues when Fremonsters gather, a ride on one of these vehicles encourages such behavior. However, behind the fun, there is a serious business here. The owners of Ride The Ducks have invested money and energy into the tours, and the Ducks. Besides getting all the permits, insurance and safety equipment necessary, the vehicles undergo regular inspections by the Coast Guard. The owners demand daily maintenance checks of every DUKW - a check done in a warehouse here in Fremont.

Mixing fun and function comes naturally here. Certainly our Chamber mixes the two with ease. In fact, Ride The Ducks has a commonality with the Fremont 'philosophy', as it were. Their motto is "We have no spectators on board, only participants" and it echoes that of the Fremont Arts Council Solstice Parade. Certainly, what could be more Fremont than to make a public spectacle of yourself?

Serious Ducking

And while a Duck ride is fun, it is also educational and historical. In You Are First, Francis S. Kinney wrote, "It was at dawn … in July, 1943, when allied forces began to land on Sicily. That same night the weather turned ugly and a vicious surf built up, pounding the beaches, capsizing and wrecking landing craft, threatening to cut off Allied troops without food, ammunition, reinforcements, or supplies. Then through the darkness, like an answer to a prayer, came a strange fleet of unique amphibious craft. They were the secret DUKW's, the 'trucks that go to sea.' … For sixty crucial hours through that pounding, crashing surf they brought ashore nearly 90% of all cargo, directly from the transports, over the treacherous sand, and on the beach roads to the front lines."

The Ducks served a vital purpose to allied troops in World War II. Now they serve as pleasure craft, as well as reminders and curiosities to those of us far removed from that sad time in history. Such dual purposes come naturally - to Ducks, to Fremont and to our Chamber of Commerce. Now, get out of my way, I want to go have some (more) fun!

August 2005