1 p.m. -- MIDWAY OPENS.

Play the odds, have fun and win with the Rider Rooter organization. Benefits the Memorial High School Athletic Program. Open throughout SummerFest weekend - check the Calendar of Events for times.

1 p.m. -- MIDWAY OPENS -- Rides by Carpenter Brothers.

Take your chances and win prizes from all your favorite carnival games. Open throughout SummerFest weekend - check the Calendar of Events for times.

Celebrity Time Trials

BUY TICKETS HERE

Duck Race

First Prize

5 p.m. -- DUCK RACE CELEBRITY TIME TRIALS -- St. Marys River. Sponsored by the K.C. Geiger Park Improvement Committee.

The Duck Race Celebrity Time Trials consists of two heats of six innertubers "racing" down the Duck Race course on the St. Marys River (see photo). The first three finishers in each heat qualify for the Finals.

All SummerFest weekend right up to the Time Trials start at 5:00 pm Sunday, wager tickets will be sold at the Duck Race Booth for $1.00 each. The purchaser will write his name, phone number and the name of one celebrity on each ticket, and place it in that celebrity's ticket bin. In this way, betting lines can be generated to provide "odds" on the participants.

After the Finals, one ticket will be drawn at random from the ticket bin of the winning celebrity, and that ticket's purchaser will win $100.00. The winning celebrity will be proclaimed "Anas Curriculum Deus" (Duck Race God) and crowned with whatever piece of trash the Duck Race Committee finds appropriate or handy.

The celebrities are volunteering their time and energies. They are only committed to show up, not necessarily to strive to win. For their trouble, they will receive a Duck Race tee shirt, a hearty handshake and, if requested, a thorough hosing-down when they come out of the river. Not to mention the fact that they will have a lot of fun.

Celebrities are chosen by invitation only. The Duck Race Committee looks for a mix of St. Marys folks who through their talents, occupations, or personalities are well known throughout the community, thus providing a "draw" for spectators and wagerers.

6 p.m. -- DUCK RACE -- South Street Bridge to Memorial Covered Bridge. Sponsored by the K. C. Geiger Park Improvement Committee.

Hundreds of thousands - well, hundreds, anyway (2,238 in 1999) - of numbered rubber ducks (one for each $5 ticket sold) are released on the St. Marys River as the nearby Memorial Park Clock Bell Tower strikes 6 o'clock. The unpredictable current carries the yellow rubber ducks 1/2 a furlong - about 120 yards - downstream at speeds measured in the tenths of a mile/hour.

Hundreds of thousands - well, thousands, anyway (no kidding) - of race fans come to the riverbank to watch the spectacle. Throwing stuff at the ducks or at the DUCK RACE officials in the water is considered bad form, and will draw stern rebukes from the knowledgeable fans (and especially from the DUCK RACE officials).

The ducks approach the finish line to qualify for prizes (107 prizes worth more than $10,000 in cash and merchandise in 1999). DUCK RACE officials in the yellow shirts and hats place the winners into the chute immediately. This year, the First Place Prize is a 1990 5.0 liter V-8 Mustang GT, sponsored by Larry Schaaf Auto Sales, Inc.