Linda Ober / The Citizen

Story:

AUBURN -- They called it "Miss Thang."

While some people named their plastic rubber duckies typical human or pet names, Taylor Marie Dixon's duck was granted that sassy title, a nickname for Dixon herself.

Dixon, 5, earned that name " 'cause she walks around like she 5 years old going on 20," joked Dixon's father, Jeffrey.

The Dixons, of Auburn, were some of the several hundred onlookers pressed up against the fences in downtown Auburn early Monday afternoon, praying their ducks would pick up a strong current in the Owasco Outlet.

Ryan, 9, was optimistic that his duck, named after his undefeated baseball team, would place first or second in the 18th annual Auburn Kiwanis Duck Derby.

"I'm going to see if I can get very lucky," said Ryan, who was hopeful he would soon be headed to Disney World -- and Las Vegas (if his sister's duck placed, too).

Robert Dailey was also betting on winning the Sin City trip. The Dailey family had four ducks entered in the derby, in which participants buy a numbered duck and root them on to the finish line.

"There's my duck, the one that's in first place!" Dailey's son Ryan, 9, said hopefully.

For more on this story, read Tuesday's Citizen