ShawneeDispatch.com

St. Patrick’s Day has an unusual symbol for one Shawnee bar and restaurant.

As the day of Shawnee’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade approaches, always staged the Sunday immediately preceding the holiday, Jake’s Place, 12001 Johnson Drive, becomes populated by ducks — though they are rubber or plush, rather than the live variety.

“I have ducks that quack, I have ducks that dance – I even have a duck in a bikini,” said Janine Linnell, owner.

That’s because Jake’s Place is one of the headquarters for selling tickets to the Great Duck Race, the event that follows Shawnee’s annual parade. In the Great Duck Race, plastic ducks race down a Turkey Creek tributary in the downtown area to raise funds for the Shawnee Sister Cities Association and Shawnee Irish-American Club. As always, this year’s 22nd annual duck race starts at 4:30 p.m. next to Danally’s Bar and Grill, 60th and Nieman Road.

And to promote the selling of the tickets, Linnell has amassed a collection of more than 200 ducks that decorate her business for the month of March.

“We tried selling the duck tickets for a week before they went out and didn’t sell one, but once we put them out, we sold 45 tickets that same day,” Linnell said.

Jake’s Place became a duck ticket selling location about five years ago, and the duck race’s founder, J.J. Miller, brought Linnell a duck statue from his yard to help her promote ticket sales.

The next year, Linnell said she decided to go out and buy her own large, stuffed duck to help promote sales. And it just snowballed from there, as Linnell found herself becoming — as some would say — a little obsessed with ducks.

“People have told me I need to go to Ducks Anonymous,” she admits. “… Ever since then, no matter where I go, if I see a duck, I buy it.”

The ducks can be found across the top of the shelves behind the bar, atop beer dispensers, and mixed in with the bar’s year-round décor, such as the plush duck sitting in the seat of a decorative bicycle mounted on the wall.

Jake’s Place customers have embraced the duck motif whole-heartedly.

“It’s gotten to the point where customers are bringing me ducks,” Linnell said.

Customers have sometimes borrowed their favorite ducks while traveling and send Linnel photos of the duck at different locations. One duck, the original that started the collection, was “duck-napped” – Linnell was sent a photo of the stuffed animal bound in duct tape behind a sign that read “Free beer on Saturday, or the duck gets it.”

Linnell now displays this duck on top of a highly-mounted beer sign to prevent future duck-nappings, because she has a great affection for her ducks. And the collection is bound to grow even further.

“Easter’s my favorite time to buy them, because I get them all and pack them away,” Linnell said. “And when I get them out a year later, and it’s like Christmas all over again.”

But it seems to be working. Jake’s Place has sold 231 tickets so far, and as the sight of the annual St. Patrick’s Day pre-parade breakfast, ticket sales likely will grow.

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