It’s time to "get quacking!"

Friday, March 31 marks the start of ticket sales for the ever-popular Newtown Lions Great Pootatuck Duck Race. This year the race will be held on June 3 from 11 am until 2:30 pm in Sandy Hook Village center.

Tickets, which the Lions like to call "duck adoptions," are $5 each and will be available through June 2 at local businesses and online via newtownlions.org.

Bob Schmidt, who has chaired this activity since 2008, still gets excited about it.

“The event is so much more than just the dropping of the ducks,” Schmidt said. “It is a town fair with exhibitors and free activities for children such as a bounce house, a giant slide, mini golf, and a bean bag toss.”

Besides the main event, the local duck race also features live entertainment, dance exhibitions, local musicians, and low-cost duck-themed souvenirs.

Weekend outdoor sales will be held at varying locations as posted weekly on the Newtown Lions Club (CT) Facebook page. Look for ongoing coverage of this locally popular event here at The Newtown Bee as well.

“Newtown and Sandy Hook businesses play a vital role in supporting this Lions fundraiser,” Lion Kevin Corey commented.

The following local businesses have donated prizes: Berkshire Motors, Big Y, Blue Colony Diner, Butcher’s Best, Cover Two Grill, Cork-N-Barrel Liquor Store, Edmond Town Hall Theatre, Farmhouse Restaurant, Gino’s Pizza Parlor of Sandy Hook, Marketplace Restaurant, My Place Restaurant, Nassar’s Hair Salon, Newtown Dry Cleaners, Peach Blossom Boutique, Pizza Palace, and The Newtown Bee.

Also, Porco Karate Academy, Sabrina Style, Sal e Pepe’s Restaurant, Sugo Restaurant (formerly Figs), Superior Cleaners, The Little Theater, The Villa Restaurant, Toy Tree.

The following businesses are helping by selling tickets at their locations: Bagel Delight, Berkshire Motors, Blue Colony Diner, Booth Library, Butcher’s Best, Carminuccio’s Pizza & Subs, Cork-n-Barrel Liquor Store, Earth Day Event, Franco’s Pizza, General Store, Gino’s Pizza Parlor of Sandy Hook, Hawleyville Liquor Store, Joanne Fitness Studio, and Lions Bleecker Street.

Additionally, donations have come from My Place Restaurant, Newtown Community Center, Newtown Deli & Catering, Newtown Hardware Store, Nicks Chilled & Distilled-Sandy Hook, Patty’s Pantry, Pizza Palace, PJs Laundromat-Sandy Hook, Queen Street Cleaners, Sabrina Style, Sandy Hook Café, Sandy Hook Diner, Toy Tree, WHIP Salon-Sandy Hook and Yankees Wine & Spirits.

“Still others allow Lions to sell tickets outside their buildings,” said Corey. “We appreciate all this great community support.”

Each uniquely numbered duck race raffle ticket corresponds to one of thousands of uniquely numbered rubber ducks that will “dive” into the Pootatuck River from the Church Hill Rd Bridge in Sandy Hook Center about 2:30 pm on June 3.

Holders of tickets corresponding to the first twenty rubber ducks to cross the finish line will win prizes including a $2,000 first prize and nineteen more prize packages generously donated by Newtown businesses.

Interested community groups, vendors, and exhibitors may contact Bob Schmidt, at serenitysh@yahoo.com or 203-426-1222.

Editor John Voket can be reached at john@thebee.com.