Blue Skies And Yellow Rubber Ducks: A Winning Combination

By Shannon Hicks

It was blue-topped tents (and a few green ones, too) almost as far as the eye could see last Saturday for those standing on one side of the Pootatuck River in Sandy Hook Center and looking north, across the river and into the park area at 3-5 Glen Road. For a few hours on Saturday, May 24, there were booths representing businesses and organizations celebrating the 8th Annual Great Pootatuck Duck Race, and in the four hours preceding the ceremonial dumping of nearly 4,000 ducks from Mike Porco’s backhoe into the river, thousands of people converged on the park for the festival that has become one of the town’s largest annual events.

Meliza Joyce, Skip Sims, and Anne Brennan were this year’s big winners. Their ducks were the first three to cross the finish line Saturday afternoon, capping a few months of ticket sales by members of Newtown Lions Club and about ten minutes of clapping, cheering. and rooting by ticket-holders of all ages as rubber ducks floated, bobbed, and made their way from the Church Hill Road bridge — where they had once again been launched from the bucket of a backhoe — down the bend around Porco Park and into the chute that was waiting to sort the first 20 that arrived at the destination.

Meliza, Skip, and Anne are the new owners of a 42-inch Sharp flat screen LCD HDTV with three-year warranty and a Sony 100-watt DVD home theater system; a New York City package that includes an overnight stay at The Essex House Hotel, a gift certificate to TicketMaster and dinner at Café Ciello Restaurant; and a Sharp Blue-Ray high-def DVD player, respectively.

Aside from the big prizes, however, the Lions Club benefited once again from postcard-perfect weather, a good array of booths with information about and items being sold by local groups and businesses, and plenty of refreshments for all taste buds. There was one grill in the park being run by members of Newtown United Methodist Church (NUMC), while Katherine’s Kitchen also had one set up and running on the sidewalk in front of its storefront. Merchants of Sandy Hook Center had tables for face and hand painting, cupcake sales, and a sandwich board enticed adults into Sandy Hook Wine & Liquor for wine tastings. Just up the hill, the members of NUMC had a massive tag sale running in two areas of the church’s parking lot.

Ever the fundraisers, members of the Lions Club, also had a few tables set up. At one location members were selling the official Duck Race hats along with retired ducks — the plastic ducks that didn’t do very well in last year’s race. Made of hard plastic instead of the traditional rubber ducks used in years past (and brought back this year), many of the ducks in the 2007 race cracked upon impact after being dumped into the river, while others split apart during the race and never made it to the finish line. These ducks were selling at four for $1, and were quite a popular offering.

Another location offered tickets for the club’s annual Mustang raffle, and there were at least two locations where people could purchase their last-minute tickets for Saturday’s big event.

Golden Opportunities, the Sandy Hook-based organization that helps improve the well-being of those who are isolated and lonely, also took advantage of the duck theme for its booth. The table offered a raffle called A Buck A Duck, and promised a prize every time. Loosely based on the nutshell game, children were especially pleased to turn in their dollar bills and choose one of five or six miniature ducks on the table. One the bottom of each duck the name of a prize had been printed: duck whistle, bubbles, necklace, or hat.

Entertainment was also ongoing, from karate demonstrations by all levels of students from Porco Karate Academy and demonstrations by faculty from The Graceful Planet to live music by Lucinda with Mike Connolly and Lathrop School of Dance performers. Duck Race Chairman Bob Schmidt also served as the day’s emcee, keeping events on the stage and around the festival on time and up-to-date.

Children had the opportunity to visit either of two bounce houses and to meet Magic Marty, who was among the crowd all day; an ice cream man had his truck parked in the parking lot all day; and everyone had the opportunity to meet members of at least three of Newtown’s emergency services departments: NUSAR, Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue and its Junior Corps, and Newtown Ambulance.

“This was our best draw ever,” said Lions Club President Tom Evagash. “Economically and even more than that, the fact that we got so many people out, it was absolutely a great day. It seemed like there were twice as many people there as ever before.”

By the time the ducks were dumped into the river for their 500-yard swim (the course ends at the walking bridge that connects Glen Road to the end of Dayton Street), the Lions had sold a record 3,765 raffle tickets for the big race. Last year the club sold out of its available 3,500 tickets, so the decision was made to purchase 500 more tickets… which meant more ducks too.

“It was a wonderful event,” said Mr Evagash. “I think everyone was very happy. Even the state inspector was happy,” he added with a laugh, “and sometimes we have a hard time keeping them happy.”

The Winners

In addition to Meliza Joyce, Skip Sims, and Anne Brennan, the following people were winners of The 8th Annual Great Pootatuck Duck Race Raffle: fourth place, Sapphire in-office teeth whitening, G. Arfaras; fifth place, a gift certificate from Avancé Esthétiques, Sandy Connolly; sixth place, a golf bag, Mike Moore; seventh place, a one month membership from Club NewFit, Lynn Lubben; eighth place, a gift certificate from Tambascio’s Italian Grill, Elain Burbera; ninth place, a gift certificate from Sal e Pepe, Riley Feinaver; tenth place, a two-year subscription (or extension of existing subscription) from The Newtown Bee, Tim Kovacs.

Eleventh place, a gift basket from Lexington Gardens, Christian Williams; 12th place, a gift certificate from Roberto’s Restaurant, Gabriella Nastri; 13th place, a gift certificate from Pizza Palace, Michelle McDonald; 14th place, a gift certificate from The Villa Restaurant, Gary Fillion; 15th place, a gift certificate from The Inn at Newtown, Rod Deraney; 16th place, a gift certificate from Mona Lisa Restaurant, Judith Jensen; 17th place, a gift certificate from The Firehouse Bar & Restaurant, Miles Ball; 18th place, a gift certificate from My Place Restaurant, David Romano; 19th place, a gift certificate from Carminuccio’s Restaurant, Dee Blalack; and 20th place, ten tickets from Edmond Town Hall Theater, Don Gover.

Of course, the real winners from Saturday will be local organizations and individuals who receive donations and help from Newtown Lions Club in the months ahead, thanks to the funds that were raised during the event which is, after all, a fundraiser.