A promise made blue

Silverdale Rotarian

dyes hair blue after

bank staff meets

duck race challenge.

The sign on the wall behind the counter at American Marine Bank in Silverdale said it all.

If the bank employees sold 1,000 tickets for tomorrow’s Great Kitsap Duck Race, branch manager Mary Hoover would dye her hair blue.

Well, the Silverdale bank crew sold about 1,100 tickets as of yesterday.

“I obviously set the sights too low,” Hoover said as her blue hair gleamed in the sun.

The Silverdale branch’s operations officer Mechelle Hoerer did the honors Friday morning and sprayed two cans of bright blue hair dye on Hoover’s dark hair.

Hoover has been a member of Silverdale Rotary for five years and always challenges the American Marine Bank staff to sell lots of tickets for the duck race.

“I give them a challenge every year, but this is the first self-sacrifice,” Hoover said.

“Normally it’s a picnic or something, but who needs a picnic when you can see blue hair?” Hoerer added.

Hoover got the idea to dye her hair from a fellow Rotarian. She must sport the blue hairdo throughout Whaling Days weekend. Hoover is at this morning’s pancake breakfast and will sell duck race tickets this evening and tomorrow morning in Old Town Silverdale.

Aside from sporting blue hair for a few days, Hoover had to wash the bank employees’ vehicles as part of the challenge.

“Unfortunately I still have more cars to wash,” Hoover said with a smile.

Despite surpassing the 1,000 mark, Hoover said American Marine Bank will continue to sell duck race tickets for tomorrow’s race.

“We’re not stopping just because we reached 1,000,” Hoover said.

Hoover not only challenged her own bank staff, but the Silverdale staff of Kitsap Bank.

“If they outsell our branch we have to bring them root beer floats and if we outsell their branch they bring us root beer floats,” Hoover said. “I think we’re neck and neck, but we don’t want to lose.”

As for next year, Hoover said she’ll again challenge her American Marine Bank staff to sell duck race tickets, but things will be a little different.

“We’ll set the sights a little higher and come up with something else (besides blue hair),” Hoover said.

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