Big Duck a big deal for Flanders locals

When Jeremy and Kate Wilkinson of England were planning their two-week vacation to Vermont, Long Island and New York City, they came up with a list of must-see highlights that included the Montauk Point lighthouse, Teddy Roosevelt's house at Sagamore Hill and a helicopter ride around Manhattan.

And, of course, the Big Duck in Flanders.

On Saturday, the Yorkshire natives found themselves standing in front of the 20-foot-high duck on Route 24. It was celebrating its 80th birthday with an outdoor festival.

Kate Wilkinson thought her husband was a bit nuts.

"I can't believe we drove miles and miles and miles to see a duck," she told a reporter, within earshot of her husband. "We're from England."

Jeremy Wilkinson was pleased with his find, though he acknowledges that it's a bit wacky. "It's a little sick, isn't it?" he said. "What is its actual purpose?"

Well, for people to visit it, according to organizers of the event.

Actually, it's a huge source of pride for people in Flanders, who sometimes feel like second-class citizens in the Town of Southampton, which includes its wealthy and famous neighbors in Southampton Village.

"It's an identity for the people who live in Flanders," said Fran Cobb, who heads a group calling itself Friends of the Big Duck.

The Big Duck, in fact, was built in 1931 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The concrete structure was originally located in Riverhead and has been moved a couple of times since.

The original owners, duck farmer Martin Maurer and his wife Jeule, got the idea when they saw a roadside coffee shop in California shaped like a giant coffee pot.

So the Maurers built a giant duck and sold their Pekin ducks from it. Ducks were and still are a big business on eastern Long Island.

Today, no real ducks are sold from the Big Duck. But its tiny gift shop does offer duck key chains, duck visors, duck umbrellas and duck golf balls, to name a few.

Ruth Roland, 62, of Hampton Bays, says hello to the duck out loud every time she passes it. Her parents did, too.

Now so do her son and daughter-in-law, Tim and Thea Roland, 34 and 30, who plan to teach their 7-week-old daughter to do the same.

So that will be four generations who salute the duck.

"I love the duck," Ruth said. "It's been here for so long."