The 16th annual Rubber Ducky Festival is set to take over Bridgeport Park on Saturday, bringing flocks of racing rubber ducks that benefit patient care services at Samuel Dixon Family Health Centers.
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The Rubber Ducky Festival is an annual fundraiser hosted by Samuel Dixon Family Health Centers (SDFHC) in order to raise money for their patient care services.
“This is our annual fundraiser, and this is how we support our community in our healthcare,” said Mary Hulbert, the Office Manager and Public Relations Coordinator for SDFHC.
During the event, participants adopt a rubber duck for $5, and then race the ducks down a waterway in order to determine prize-winners.
“We build a waterway at Bridgeport Park, and we do three different heats,” Hulbert said. “(The ducks) race down this waterway, and the one duck that we pull wins that heat.”
Hulbert said that they photograph every finish, just in case the race is too close to call just by watching.
The grand prize for the event is $2,000, with second prize taking home $1,500, and third and fourth prize being $500.
As well as offering the three different heats, the event is also set to feature a “Duck-Orate Your Own Duck” station for children to decorate a rubber duck to race in their own special heat.
“A lot of times when the kids are there, they ask their parents, ‘Which one’s our duck that we adopted?’” said Philip Solomon, Chief Executive Officer for SDFHC. “So, this year we have a booth for them to decorate their own … so they can see the duck that they decorated go down the stream.”
This will be the 16th year for the Rubber Ducky Festival, coming a long way from where it began, according to Solomon.
“It started from a backyard,” Solomon said “(Then) we went to Castaic Lake, and now over to Bridgeport where we actually make the waterway for the ducks to race in.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, 1,302 ducks had been adopted, raising $5,670 so far. The goal for the event is to get 2,500 ducks adopted.
“There’s always about 300 to 400 people who come to the event,” Solomon said. “We hope that it’s going to be more this year.”
In addition to all of the rubber duck races, the event is also set to feature the the Caribbean music band, Island Passion, as well as a mechanical surfboard ride, a rock wall and several food trucks.
The 2018 Rubber Ducky Festival is set to take place at Bridgeport Park on Saturday, Oct. 13, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m
For more information on the festival, or to adopt a rubber duck, click here.
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