The Newtown Lions Club Great Pootatuck River Duck Race will be held on Saturday, May 31 — the Saturday after Memorial Day weekend this year — from 11 am until 2:30 pm. The event will again be centered around Heritage Park, 7 Glen Road in Sandy Hook Center.

Tickets, which the Lions like to call “duck adoptions,” are $10 each and went on sale Friday, April 4. Presales will continue weekends through May 30 at local businesses; they are also available online at newtownlions.org.

This year’s race will again feature 20 prizes with the grand prize a weekend getaway and Sunday brunch to Saybrook Point Resort & Marina. All proceeds will go to charities that support vision and blindness prevention.

Each uniquely numbered duck race raffle ticket corresponds to one of thousands of uniquely numbered rubber ducks that will dive into the Pootatuck River from the Church Hill Road bridge around 2:30 pm on May 31. Holders of tickets corresponding to the first twenty rubber ducks to cross the finish line will win prizes.

The following local businesses have all donated prizes: Bagel Delight, Barnwood Restaurant, Berkshire Motors, Lions Bleecker Street Restaurant, Burgeritoville, Butcher’s Best, Carminuccios Pizza, Cork n Barrel, Cover Two Grill, Edmond Town Hall Theatre, Farmhouse Restaurant, Hilltop Kitchen, Jewel of Himalaya Restaurant, Landau Team @RE/MAX Right Choice, Little Theatre, My Place Restaurant, The Newtown Bee, Nostrano’s Restaurant, Organic Cleaners, Papa Al’s Pizza, Pizza Palace, Porco Karate Academy, Ranch Pub, Sabrina Style Woman’s Formal Wear, Sal e Pepe’s Restaurant, Sugo Gastro Bar Restaurant, Sweet Mango, Taco Dia, Tambascio’s Restaurant, and The Toy Tree.

New this year is a passport-style adventure for Duck Race attendees.

Duck Race Co-Chair Bob Schmidt said the idea is to “encourage attendees to visit all of the exhibitor tables to get a stamp in their passport book to be eligible for an additional prize.”

Arnie Berman is co-chairing the event with Schmidt.

The event begins at 11 and will also feature live entertainment including Charlotte Cartelli, Ashurst Academy of Irish Dance, Porco Karate Academy, Newtown Centre of Classical Ballet and Voice, and Suzuki School of Music.

Low-cost duck-themed souvenirs will be among this year’s additional offerings.

Information about Newtown Lions and other community service projects is available via newtownlions.org.

Charities To Benefit

All funds raised through this year’s Great Pootatuck Duck Race will support multiple charities, the majority with a mission to help those with vision challenges.

The local Lions have announced proceeds will be divided among The Barton Center for Diabetes, The Connecticut Lions Eye Research Foundation (CLERF); Connecticut Radio Information System (CRIS) District 23A, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) radio-reading service; Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, Guiding Eyes for the Blind, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Lions Low Vision Centers of District 23A, Lions Project for Canine Companions, and local vision and hearing programs through Newtown Social Services.

The club will also make a donation for domestic disaster relief.