On April 20th, 2010, the city of Seattle and surrounding areas were blasted with some sad news…the SeaFair Hydroplane races were in jeopardy as money became an issue between race organizers and the boat owners.
Seattle was about to take another Black Eye, first the Sonics, then possibly the fireworks, I wasn’t going to let this happen! I love SeaFair! I grew up here watching SeaFair, I raced my little wooden hydroplane behind my bike and after 60 years, there was to be no race? I don’t think so!
So I started thinking, made some phone calls and the next day…I pledged $40K to help bridge the gap. The Hydros will go on! This entire process has been so much fun and the support is outstanding! Take a look at a small sample of what has been the buzz in the Seattle area since I made my announcement. I have almost begun to run out of words except, “Thank you all for your support!” Seafair is Seattle’s biggest party, the Hyrdos unlimited… the grand finally and we are all in for a great time during SeaFair 2010!
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Let me tell you about the birth of an idea. I opened the Seattle Times online version on April 21 and turned to the Sports section. There was the story of the $40,000 gap in funding for the Seafair Hydroplane Race. Within two seconds I found myself saying, “I’ll do it.” I’m sure there was a voice somewhere saying, “that’s a lot of money” but there was also a voice that said, “we’ll figure it out later.” Who would have thought that the birth of that idea could have such a positive impact and create such interest in Seafair at such an early date. I personally had 500 emails from people I don’t know, thanking me and talking about the “tradition” being saved and recounting stories of towing their hydro behind their bike. The media said that I Saved Seafair. I’m sure they meant the race but “Duke Saves Seafair” has stuck with the public. It was the media that pointed out that no race, no log boom, no Blue Angels. In some ways, I really did save Seafair. I’ve even had many people thank me for saving the fireworks.
Circumstances beyond the control of anyone involved with Seafair had produced an atmosphere that was contentious and a bit unfriendly. With the birth of an idea, it all went away. And now a curious thing has happened. There is now a positive expectancy in the air. The Milk Carton Derby attracted a record number of registrations for entering the Derby. The people in the office can feel the excitement in the air. I have ridden in the Miss Thriftway on Lake Sammamish, been invited to be the official starter for the Seafair race and been interviewed on several radio shows and magazines. By doing the right thing, I have been thrust in to the position in the public’s eye as the personality of Seafair. And that is not a bad thing. I believe that I am uniquely qualified to help Seafair not just with the hydro race this year but in many years to come. I am able to dream up ideas that produce FUN and create revenue. I am able to get media attention and increase the awareness of Seafair and it seems to be working. I have arranged for a full page ad in DList Magazine for July. The demographics are perfect – 20 to 40 year olds. That’s what Seafair needs. Youth and new energy. Having been interviewed about our company and our involvement with Seafair, DList liked what I said so much that they decided to give Seafair a full page ad for FREE. I am currently working with KIRO TV to bring sponsors and advertisers added value when they team with me to sell their product. All of this effort at no cost to Seafair and no charge to KIRO. Additionally, I have introduced to Seafair the company that has helped me pioneer the most powerful and largest email club for a restaurant in the world with 150,000 members of Duke’s Email Club. Rich Carr from CarrKnowledge and I have worked effectively together for 12 years and I believe he will be invaluable to Seafair’s future. Rich understands that the consumer has placed me in the position of Saving Seafair and it only makes sense to leverage that position for the good of Seafair in the future. And, just this morning, I was selected to be featured in Business Week (National Publication) for an article on our business. I plan to talk about Seafair given the opportunity.
As far as raising money, I recommended a raffle several months ago when I met with Beth Knox and John Buller. Later, we joined forces and created the best raffle idea I have ever seen. One of the prizes is Dinner for Life for one person at Duke’s Chowder House. It has a value of almost $400,000 assuming the winner eats at Duke’s every night and lives for 50 years. Even a normal usage leaves the value at $50,000. After a short consultation with the gambling commission, we have changed the raffle to a sweepstakes and after only two weeks, Duke’s has raised over $9,000. Seafair should have the sweepstakes available on their website in a few days and we will be off and running in a major fundraising way. Additionally, we have raised about $5,000 with the sale of 5,000 Seafair combos on our Fresh Sheet Menu in the restaurants. We give Seafair $1 for each combo of Wild Halibut and Cod. In addition, Duke’s Southcenter will host the first annual FUNdraising event where Hydro Driver’s wait tables and a portion of the sales goes to Seafair.
Lastly, I want to say that the commitment to our community is felt by me, my son John and our entire company in a big way. We give to over 700 Charities each year. We have developed a philosophy of just saying yes. I have built our brand over a 38 year period and now is a good time to leverage that brand to help make a great community tradition, Seafair, the greatest event of its kind in the world.
Community rallies to rescue Seafair pirates' landing on Alki Beach
