By Sue Moore
Vicksburg Village has the perfect stream to race rubber ducks, according to Amy Manchester who helps organize the race each year. It will be held in Clark Park at 1 p.m., June 13. It is also where the Band Boosters will also stage the Annual Arts and Crafts sale at the same time during the Old Car Festival from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Members of the Vicksburg Community Schools Foundation (VCSF) have been busy tapping on their friends, neighbors, and school children to buy tickets for the annual race. It has become a ritual for Kim Kline, the past president of the Foundation to attract the attention of the many entrants. She counts down to dumping hundreds of rubber ducks into th
e stream at the top of the bridge on W. Prairie Street. Kids follow their hopeful winning duck as it meanders down the stream to go under the bridge on W. Washington Street. Rudy Callen, school board member and past VCSF president, is the worthy MC of the race, calling out the duck numbers (if he can see them) on their trip down the creek. Members of the VCSF board have been seen wading into the creek to corral the winning duck, with even Superintendent Charlie Glaes taking a turn at stopping the elusive critters.
Prizes are plentiful for first, second and third place in both the student and adult heats of the well-choreographed race to the finish line. This is a fundraiser for the VCSF which provides scholarships to high school seniors, curiosity grants to grade school students, and Bardeen grants to teachers to further their classroom work. Six local sponsors from the business community have their own heat in the race to see who can finish fastest. They include Grossman LLC, Hill’s Pharmacy, Oswalt Family Farms, the Munn Agency, Edward Jones, and the Ralph Hayward Agency.
Tickets will be sold to the public at a booth on W. Prairie Street before the start of the race. There were over 500 entries in 2014, according to Kline.