Submitted by Hal Daume
This year’s Festival and Ducky Race will be held on Saturday, June 9, 2018, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Passaic River Park, 151 Springfield Avenue, Berkeley Heights, Jersey. Enjoy seeing friends and neighbors and coming together as a community. Admission is free.
The Rubber Ducky Race will be the featured event. Thousands of tiny yellow plastic duckies will “swim” their little hearts out, coming down the Passaic River in their quest to be the first to the finish line for their “parents.” (This is a “green” event. All ducks are removed from the river, cleaned, and donated to kids’ summer camps.)
Ducky adoption tickets are just $5 each and available throughout Berkeley Heights on weekends up to the Festival date. A limited number of ducks will be available for adoption on Festival Day.
The race has an outstanding array of top prizes:
- Grand Prize: 4 Box Seats behind home plate at a Yankees home game ($1100 Value)
- 2nd Prize: 12 Monthly Flower Arrangements by Hall’s Garden Center ($500 Value)
- 3rd Prize: 50-in Samsung Flat-Screen HDTV ($500 Value)
- 4th Prize: 3-Month Family Membership at the Berkeley Heights Y ($368 Value)
This year’s hot food will be for sale by the popular “Gastro Truck” by Embassy Suites, plus bottled water by the Rotary Club.Kids’ games will be on site for all to play, plus exhibits and demonstrations by local businesses and community organizations. Be sure to try out your pitching arm at the “Dunk Tank.” Other exciting happenings will be our live DJ and local bands, Scout-O-Rama, Bouncy House, and other kids’ games. Be sure to check out the Classic & Custom Car Show!
The first $4000 of funds raised will go to Rotary scholarships for Governor Livingston graduating seniors. This event also supports other local Rotary projects, including the Rotary Medic-Alert program for 200 local solo seniors, sponsoring three Cub Scout packs and two Boy Scout troops including Eagle Scout service projects, supporting the BH Police Department and Rescue Squad, the Public and all five school libraries, the Memorial Park Committee, YMCA Strong Kids, the Interact student service club at Governor Livingston, annual blood drives, and wherever needs arise.
The Rubber Ducky Festival is a Rotary Club of Berkeley Heights event, in cooperation with the Suburban Chambers of Commerce Foundation and the Berkeley Heights Recreation Department.
For more information call Rotary Club President Jim Ramentol at 908-216-7151.
(above) Rubber Ducky Festival from previous years.
