Nine-year-old Willa Barry recently learned a little about duck hunting — but not in the way you might think.
The Tower School third grader is the winner of Abbot Library’s Great Marblehead Yellow Duckie Search that ran April 21-May 4.
The event was organized by the Friends of Abbot Public Library as a community activity. Fifty small yellow ducks were tucked into spots all around town, waiting to be discovered by eager participants who then returned them to the library. They could then pick out a free book and enter a raffle for a big prize.
According to Abbot Executive Director Kimberly Grad, 23 of the 50 ducks were found over the course of the contest.
Willa was the most successful “duck hunter” in town. She and her family explored Marblehead during the contest dates and ended up finding two of the hidden ducks — one at the historic Jeremiah Lee Mansion and another nearby, close to the sign for St. Michael’s Episcopal Church.
“I got home from school and my parents said, ‘Do you want to go duck hunting?’ and I said, ‘Sure!’ We were walking around Marblehead and finally found one at the Jeremiah Lee Mansion and I also found one near the post down the street.”
Willa’s lucky streak carried through to the raffle drawing, where she was selected as the winner of a Kindle Paperwhite.
The Friends of Abbot Public Library said the goal of the event was simply to get families outside, exploring town landmarks and engaging with the library in a playful way during National Library Week.
