SAINT CLAIR — More than 5,000 yellow rubber ducks went for a swim Sunday in Mill Creek.
The ducks were released for the 28th annual Duck Race at the Coal Creek Commerce Center. The event benefits Avenues, with proceeds going to help people with disabilities.
People lined the bank to watch the ducks’ journey down Mill Creek after they were dropped from a dump truck loaned by the Pottsville Street Department.
“I see some way over there,” Jake Powers, 7, of Pottsville, said.
For $5, people could adopt a duck to win prizes. The first duck to float under the tunnel won $1,000, while second place won a four-pack of tickets to Hershey Park and third place took home a Yuengling cooler.
Before the ducks made their way into the water, people took in other activities offered at the event, such as face painting and merchant stands.
Cousins Sage Thompson, 7, of Saint Clair, and Kade Martin, 4, of Port Carbon, each had a cat painted on their face by Kelly Wertz, Saint Clair. Emilie Martin, 36, of Port Carbon, said her son, Kade, likes the event.
“We come every year,” she said.
Kathy Laughlin-Benyak, Pottsville, a board member at Avenues, said the event is focused on the whole family. She said the weather helped boost this year’s attendance.
Schuylkill County commissioners Chairman George F. Halcovage Jr. said even though the weather helped, people would still attend the event because they realize its importance to the community.
“It would have been this crowded even if the weather wasn’t nice,” he said.
Halcovage said he bought six ducks but he never seems to win.
“I think my duck is still floating around from last year,” he said
Stephanie Strohecker, marketing manager for Avenues, estimated about 350 to 500 people attended Sunday.
“It was definitely a great turnout,” she said.