Cheryl, the ‘duck lady’ steps down from club
Hundreds collected for charity over years by cricket club
“Duck lady” is stepping down from a Levin cricket club, leaving a legacy of being able to turn an embrassment into a worthwhile cause.
When Cheryl Neilson became bar manager of the Weraroa cricket club 11 years ago, she suggested $5 should be collected from any senior player in the club that was dismissed without scoring a run — a duck.
Neilson then donated the money to a charity of her choice, and in that time hundreds of dollars had been donated. Except for one year when the club was robbed. The duck money that year went to help the club itself.
While it’s not an ideal statistic from a playing perspective, this season the club was able to donate $120 to Levin pay-it-forward charity by way of supermarket vouchers.
Neilson would be missed at Weraroa, having run a tight ship at the club.