Saturday, May 19th on the river in downtown Peterborough. This day is also the day for the 8th Annual Children and the Arts Day Festival. The Festival has agreed to let us hold our race during the afternoon, guaranteeing a great number of attendees for our race.

What is it?

The First Annual Peterborough Duck Derby for Kids is a fundraising event conducted by a new coalition of the Peterborough Elementary School (PES) Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) and the families of the Well School. Contributors "adopt" a numbered, little plastic duck. All adopted ducks are placed in the river at the start line above the Post Office and then released to "race" down the river to the new Depot Park. The first ducks to cross the finish line are the winners, earning great prizes for their adoptive families.

Why are we doing it? Ducks to the rescue!

For many years, the PES PTO has been conducting fund-raising events to support many enrichment programs, including arts programming, for the school. These fund-raisers have generally consisted of programs like the gift wrap sale. This school year, all door-to-door selling has been prohibited by the Superintendent of Schools as a safety measure for our children. So, a new stream of revenue had to be developed. The Duck Derby is that new stream (pun intended) and is being produced in conjunction with the Well School families. The Well School is a well-known community resource for the arts for children and will use its funding to expand its arts programs at the school and as community outreach.

Also, 10% of the event's proceeds will be donated to the Children and the Arts Festival, the premier art event for children throughout our region.

For information or to "adopt" a duck, contact Susan O'Neil at 924-8222 or e-mail susan@websitepublicity.com