Soda Quackers Past Entries

Our first entry was a duck made largely of soda bottles, spurring the name Soda Quackers.  Her name reflects her great beauty, although unlike her Shakespearean character, she did not have an ill-fated end.  With a strong team, she recovered from her early breakdown to successfully complete the race, winning the Golden Dinosaur Award for being the first to breakdown.

Our second entry delighted crowds by rolling her eyes and flipping her tail as she steadly pursued a cake celebrating her 16th birthday.  While strong in spirit, she did not win any awards.

In 2015, the Soda Quackers team greatly expanded, or let's say lengthened, their sculpture to create a giraffe whose long neck was controlled by the pilots to raise and lower.  Pilots also controlled its eyes and tongue, making Anuli truly seem alive.  Her many talents earned her the Engineering Award.  

There's a long story behind Stumpti's existence, so let's just say that she is of Lithuania origins and knows how to deliver! The team fully supported her effort with creativity and bravery, which did not go unnoticed by the judges who awarded them Best Costumes.

The theme of food inspired the Soda Quackers team to design the first four-pilot combo mixer and blender, with pilots able to rotate and raise and lower the beaters as balloons bounced about in the mixer. The judges were again impressed with the team's ingenuity, bestowing upon them the Engineering Award.

The Soda Quackers did not participate in 2018, but did stay in shape by cycling pub to pub in Philadelphia to be ready to compete again in 2019!

The theme "Wheel-ality TV" inspired the Soda Quackers to cook up quite an engaging and devilish entrée based on the TV show Hell's Kitchen.  An animated Pandora led the way, with the Devil on her back.  Head rising, eyes lit and rolling, wings flapping, and jaws dropping, this sculpture earned the grand prize as well as the Pilots Award. 

The race was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic.  In lieu of the race, Mother Theresa asked if the teams would produce a video of the traditional Blessing of the Feet, which she would air on what was to be race day.

From their remote locations, the team members recorded their feet in the air for a blessing and our talented Justin Nawn put together the above video.  Check it out!

Born To Be Wild was the 2020 theme and with the race canceled again in 2021, Mother Theresa thought those who were building for 2020 should still have an opportunity to compete their entries in miniature form.  Hence our miniature version of wolf riding a Harley, dreaming of chasing flying sheep.  As our rig was pulled along, Howley howled and popped wheelies while the sheep's wings flapped and they rose up and down. All to a clip of the song Born to Be Wild and the sound of motorcycle exhaust.

Tempus Fugit means "time flies" in Latin. Our Tempi is the eccentric younger brother of Father Time, who rides a flying motorcycle machine in a race themed Time Warp.

We had a good start on a very rainy and windy day.  But early on, some bumps in the road jolted Tempi's head off and then, over a cobblestone street, a wheel axel broke. Though disappointed that the rig was beyond repair, the team quickly rallied to disassemble and place various parts on our carriage support vehicle and bikes. We powered forward, pushing through sand and mud, touching in the harbor, and dancing in the street!

The theme in 2023 was Everyday People so the everyday folks on the Soda Quackers team built a new rig, using a jon boat as the base and converting it into a back hoe to honor the late Buck Schuster, a long-time friend and supporter of the team.  "Mr. Dig-it" was powered from behind, accompanied by hard-working rock music, an original song & dance, and a flash dance ensemble ranging in age from 4-70!  Our kinetics, especially our water entry, were impressive but what really contributed to our 2nd Grand Championship was our team character and engagement, truly representative of everyday people.

Throughout the race, the team performed a dance to its original song, Can You Dig-it.  This delighted the judges and contributed to our Grand Championship award.