With games, guided tours and other fun events, the 90th birthday of Flanders’ famous “Big Duck” had a lot to offer on Saturday.
The Big Duck, built in 1931 by Riverhead duck farmer Martin Maurer, is turning 90 this year, and people from all over Long Island came to her home on Flanders Road on Saturday to celebrate her birthday and reopening since the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to close last March.
Friends of the Big Duck, a Flanders nonprofit, celebrated the duck-shaped building’s birthday with a ceremony attended by representatives from the Suffolk County and state, and rounded off the day with games, raffles, indoor tours and more.
Neil Young, 59, president of Friends of the Big Duck, said the day’s events made up the long hours volunteers spent preparing for the reopening rewarding.
“It took a lot of strength to open the duck on that date. It was no small feat,” said Young. “We had a lot of duck enthusiasts here, and that’s always a great thing.”
Kyle Butler, 23, a self-proclaimed “big fan” of the Big Duck, drove all the way east from his Wantagh house with two of his friends just to see it.
Butler had visited the landmark when he was 7 years old, although he couldn’t remember much, but felt it was important to remember the story the duck represented – a time when duck farming was a staple on Long Island was.
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“It’s a big part of Long Island’s history,” said Butler. “It’s duck farming on Long Island and a lot of people don’t really know. I’ve told our friends about it and I’d say half of them don’t even know what” [the Big Duck] was, and I think it’s important to remember things like that. “
In its early days, the 20-foot-tall concrete duck was a shop where Masons sold ducks to passers-by in Riverhead. It was first moved to Flanders in 1937. In 1988, it was relocated along Route 24 to Hampton Bays to protect it from possible demolition after the Flanders property on which it was housed underwent potential development. However, the duck returned to her home on Flanders Road in 2007 after it became clear that the land would not be built on.
Vince Taldone, President of the Flanders, Riverside and Northampton Community Association, told Newsday that the duck holds a special place in the hearts of Flanders as a symbol of their personality.
“It’s our symbol to the world. It’s our identity; we’re all proud of it, that’s why we’ve done so much to bring it back to this place,” said Taldone. “This is our story, and we want to save part of it to teach future generations. History is important, so we want to keep what is left of it.”
Jean-Paul Salamanca covers the East End. It focuses on Riverhead, Southold and Greenport on the North Fork and Hampton Bays, Westhampton Beach, Flanders, Riverside and Quogue on the South Fork.
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