Saturday In Sandy Hook—

Popular Lions Club Fundraiser Is Almost Here: Duck Race 2007 Will Be This Weekend

What a menagerie the Great Pootatuck Duck Race has become! The most recent and welcome additions for 2007 are llamas owned by Jack and Chris Russo and an alpaca from Rowenwood Farm. They will join the various dogs who come to the event or who are at the Canine Advocates booth as well as Skippy, the Newtown Bridle Lands Association’s miniature horse.

They will all be gathering for the seventh annual swimming of the ducks on Saturday, May 26, at Mike Porco’s lot on Glen Road.

Festivities begin at 10 am and conclude after the dropping of the ducks at 2 pm. All profits from the race will be given to Newtown charities, with the largest single amount going to Canine Advocates. The event itself is a project of Newtown Lions Club.

Magicians will work the crowd and face painters will bedeck cheeks. Kids can also enjoy the moon bounce and the major obstacle rock club with 49 feet of frontage.

There will also be many booths this year where organizations hand out informational brochures or sell things; Andrea’s Bakery will be passing out delicious cookies. Among the groups to be represented are FISH of Newtown, Newtown Woman’s Club, Newtown Junior Women’s Club, Newtown Newcomers and Neighbors, The Homesteads, Women In Newtown, Sandy Hook Fire Department, and the VFW Auxiliary.

In addition, there will be members representing Newtown Historical Society, Family Counseling Center and Newtown Youth Services, Newtown Ambulance Corps, Newtown Bridle Lands Association, the Democratic Town Committee, VNA, The Children’s Adventure Center, Newtown Girl Scouts, Al’s Trail, Newtown Forest Association, Pootatuck Watershed, ROOTS for Newtown, Trout Unlimited, Newtown Lions Club, Canine Advocates, Relay For Life, Kevin’s Community Center, NUSAR, Sea Cruise and Travel, Golden Opportunities, and The Woods in Newtown.

Every half hour a different entertainment group will perform. Among the groups are the Porco Karate Academy, Newtown Children’s Music, The Gray School of Irish Dance, and a string quartet from the Newtown High School Orchestra.

At 1 the Graceful Planet will give a presentation, and dancers from the Lathrop School of Dance will follow them and conclude the program. MC and new Lion Bob Schmidt will introduce the acts, as well as sing and entertain the crowd throughout the day.

When the ducks are released into the Pootatuck, the first 25 crossing the finish line will win prizes for their lucky owners. First prize is a 41-inch plasma television; second, a weekend in New York with theater tickets, dinner and a hotel; third, Sapphire, an office teeth whitening given by Dr Richard Fisher; fourth, a Sony PlayStation 3; and fifth, a giclée print, “Main Street,” by Newtown artist Ruth Newquist.

Other prizes include a family pool pass at Newtown pools, a framed photograph by Frank Gardner, karate lessons at Porco’s Academy, Robert Anthony Salon gift certificate, and gift certificates for Avance Esthetiques, The Gym at Newtown, Photoland, George’s Restaurant, Sal e Pepe, My Place, Lexington Gardens, The Villa, and Newtown Chocolatier. Still other prizes include a two-year subscription to The Bee, 20 movie passes to the Edmond Town Hall, and a $50 gas card.

Duck Race tickets cost $5 and can be obtained at C.H. Booth Library, Berkshire Motors, Drug Center, Fun Cuts, Sandy Hook Hair Company, Porco’s Karate Academy, Mocha Coffeehouse, Newtown Car Wash, Red Brick Tavern, Sandy Hook Liquor, The Toy Tree, Katherine’s Kitchen, Newtown Deli, Yankee Wine & Liquor, Dodgingtown Liquor, Village Barber Shop, M.C. Cleaners, and Bagel Delight. If there are any tickets left, they will be sold the day of the race.

Like the Labor Day Parade, the Friends of the Library Book Sale, and Relay For Life, The Great Pootatuck Duck Race has become one of the premier events of the Newtown year. “There is every expectation that this seventh annual running of the ducks will be the best yet,” says Lion Gordon Williams.