Third annual Rubber Duck Race Saturday

Celebrate the end of summer with the Hill City Lions Club’s (HCLC) third annual Rubber Duck Race, Mini Carnival & Craft Fair Saturday, Aug. 31 at Memorial Park from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Parking will be available at Memorial Park and off Smokey Drive. 

“I would encourage people to come out because it’s going to be a fun-filled day. You can spend time with your family. It’s the last hurrah for the end of summer,” said HCLC president Stefanie Doaty. “This is just a nice thing for the locals that we like to do. It’s just going to be a very fun day for us all.” 

This year all the events will take place by the pavilion and green space at Memorial Park. 

There will be carnival games for the children including shoot the ducks, lolly pop pull, ring toss, dime toss, face painting and the ever-popular bouncy house. One ticket is needed to play each game, and these are 25¢ each. After playing, winning tickets can be exchanged for prizes. 

Along with the carnival games there will be a mini craft fair with around 15 craft and business vendors selling things like jewelry and crocheted items. New this year is a traveling used book store with handmade bookmarks and book covers. 

Local authors Megan Kinney and Carol Kjar will also sign books at the event.

Applications for vendors are still being accepted until Thursday, Aug. 29 at 5 p.m. 

“It’s free to be a vendor. The only thing we ask for is either a monetary donation, or if you have an item that you’re selling and would like to donate it to the Lions Club for us to use it in our bingos,” said Doaty. 

For food, there will be vendors selling things like ice cream, hot dogs, lemonade and popcorn.

“If anybody gets hungry they’ll be able to eat some food down there which will be fun. So they don’t have to leave and then come back,” Doaty said. 

Doaty recommended attendees eat under the pavilion so they can relax and enjoy the live music at the same time. 

The Carson Brown Band will perform again this year from 11 a.m. until 1 or 2 p.m. by the pavilion. 

For this year’s rubber duck race, Doaty said, “The ducks will be released at the creek there at the park at 3 p.m. They’re going to race down the creek, and the top three ducks that cross the finish line will get cash prizes.” 

The first place winner gets 20 percent of the net proceeds, the second-place winner gets 15 percent of the net proceeds and the third-place winner gets five percent of the net proceeds. The payout will increase with every duck sold. The ducks are $10 each or $20 for three. 

Doaty and her daughter Emily spent around an hour and a half preparing 1,000 ducks for the race. 

The race will start by the soccer fields, go down the creek and end by the bridge near the pavilion. 

“We’re thankful to have Ben Larson helping this year with the duck race. He will be dropping the ducks for us,” Doaty said. 

It usually takes 30 to 40 minutes from beginning to end, and HCLC members are keeping an eye on the water level of the creek. 

The duck race is Doaty’s favorite part of the day. She said, “I love watching adults and kids. It’s funny because you expect it where the kids are going to be really excited and wanting to go and run and follow the ducks and cheer for the ducks. But it’s really cool when you see the adults also participating and cheering on the ducks.” 

All the money raised during the event will go to support HCLC. 

“It’s going to stay to help people in our community for things such as families or individuals who are in need of eyeglass exams and eyeglasses. It also goes to help for scholarships for our Leo Club students who are graduating high school. This last school year of 2024, we gave out $3,500 in scholarships.

“We also use the money to help with an organization called Leader Dogs of America, which is a really cool organization. It’s where they take puppies, and as they get older a little bit, they’ll train them for people with poor eyesight and who are blind. So that money goes to them to help train the dogs,” said Doaty. 

Although the HCLC likes to keep the money in the community, it also gives nationally for disaster relief like when the hurricane hit Fort Meyers, Fla., a couple of years ago. 

The Rubber Duck Race,  Mini Carnival & Craft Fair is made possible through the support of sponsors like Krull’s Market, Best Chem of Hill City, McNulty Enterprises, Grumpy Grizzly Property Maintenance, A Royal Flush Portable Toilets and Sandven Design Construction as well as volunteers who give of their time. 

“We have awesome community members who are volunteering their time to help with the event. If anybody wants to help volunteer, we are still taking people to help run the carnival games and to make sure that everyone is doing OK,” said Doaty. 

If anyone wants to volunteer, they can call or text Doaty at 610-750-4738. 

“Come on out, have fun, help support the Lions Club and enjoy a fun day,” said Doaty.