Published: April 12, 2008 05:06 pm      

Duck race day nears

By Cristin Ross

cross@jacksonvilleprogress.com

Local musical talents are tuning up to add a unique soundtrack to the first Great East Texas Duck Race next weekend.

Area musicians will be performing throughout race day, Saturday, at the Lake Jacksonville campgrounds. The community is invited to bring lawn chairs and enjoy the day.

“We are trying to bring the community out in a child- and family-friendly atmosphere,” said Linda Clark, a representative of the Crisis Center of Anderson and Cherokee Counties. “We are so pleased to have such talent join us. These musicians are donating their time and talent to help raise funds for the Crisis Center and the efforts to help abused children and end the abuse that still exists in our community.

Make sure you bring an appetite, too, because a veritable feast of food and beverages will be available through various community vendors and organizations, including the Rubber Ducky Chili Cookoff.

Public admission to the cook-off is $3 and includes a tasting cup, spoon and ballots for the much coveted People’s Choice Award. The chili coo-cook-off is affiliated with CASI-Chili Appreciation Society International, whose mission is to “Cook Chili for Charity.”

“There will not be a shortage of good things to eat,” Clark said.

Other events of the day also include a children’s fair, an auto show, the chili cook-off, and, of course, the race. A grand total of 5,000 race-ready rubber duckies will make their way over the normally placid surface of Lake Jacksonville.

The Great East Texas Duck Race events begin at 9 a.m., with the race taking place at noon. Ducks can still be adopted by going online at www.duckrace.com/jacksonville or finding adoption papers at Jacksonville Daily Progress and Austin Bank, both on Commerce Street, and Waller Broadcasting and East Texas Medical Center-Jacksonville, both located on Nacogdoches Street.

Duck adoptions are $5 per duck and all profits from the event will go to programs which help victims of child abuse in Cherokee County.

“There will be picnic tables available, food and drink vendors from our community, and the music will be going on all day,” Clark.said. “We invite the community to come sit and listen and enjoy the day.”