A sure sign of spring is when little yellow rubber ducks start appearing all over Newtown.

The 2016 Great Pootatuck Duck Race, sponsored by Newtown Lions Club, is in preparation for Memorial Day weekend in Sandy Hook Center. Ticket prices remain $5 each.

There will be 20 prizes awarded, with a total value of over $4,400 this year. The top four prizes are: first prize: $2,000; second prize: a $400 Visa Gift Card and $200 gift certificate redeemable at TicketMaster; third prize, a three-month membership for one from Porco Karate Academy, Sandy Hook; and fourth prize, an Xbox One Game System.

Newtown Lions Club members are selling tickets on Friday nights, and Saturdays and Sundays, at Bagel Delight, Bottle Shop Wine & Spirit, Butcher's Best, Carminuccio's, Dodgingtown Market, Franco's Pizza, Hawleyville Plaza (near the liquor store), My Place Restaurant, Newtown Deli & Catering, Newtown General Store, Newtown Hardware, Pizza Palace, Stop & Shop, and Yankee Wine & Spirits.

Lions will also have tickets available for purchase at their booth on Saturday, April 23, when they participate in the 9th Annual Newtown Earth Day Festival.

In addition, tickets can be purchased at the following establishments in Newtown: Bagel Delight, 30 Church Hill Road; C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street; Cork-N-Barrel, 266 South Main Street (within Plaza South); Dodgingtown Liquor Store, 57 Dodgingtown Road; Hawleyville Wines & Liquors, 23 Barnabas Road; Joanne's Fitness Studio, 316 South Main Street; Queen Street Cleaners, 6 Queen Street; Shear Image, 43 South Main Street (within Village Square); The Toy Tree, 14 Church Hill Road; Yankee Wine & Spirits, 6 Queen Street; and Your Healthy Pet, 61 Church Hill Road.

In Sandy Hook, tickets can be purchased at Berkshire Motors, 25 Berkshire Road; Fun Kuts, 111 Church Hill Road; PJ's Laundromat, 110 Church Hill Road; Sandy Hook Deli & Catering, 102 Church Hill Road; Sandy Hook Diner, 98 Church Hill Road; Sandy Hook Hair Co., 102 Church Hill Road; Sandy Hook Wine & Liquor, 102 Church Hill Road; and Village Perk Café, 3 Glen Road.

This year's event will be held on Saturday, May 28, from 10 am until 3:30 pm, in Sandy Hook Center, at Church Hill Road and Glen Road. The ducks will be dumped into the Pootatuck River at 2:30 pm.

Additional details about the event, which will include plenty of vendors, booths highlighting local clubs and organizations, local first responders, live entertainment and much more, will be announced soon.