RiverFest Ducky Derby raises scholarship funds

Pride of the Fox has paired up with the St. Charles Noon Rotary Club to host the St. Charles Ducky Derby as a part of this year's RiverFest.

You can join by "adopting" a plastic duck with its own number. At 4:45 p.m. Sunday, all 6,000 ducks will be dumped into the Fox River from the Illinois Street Bridge, located on Illinois and South Riverside avenues.

The ducks will travel downstream, where a netting system will catch them at the finish line. The owners of the first ducks to cross the finish line will be prize winners, said Julie Farris, executive director of Pride of the Fox. Winning ducks are identified by number.

The cost of adopting a duck is $5, and all proceeds go to the St. Charles Noon Rotary Club in efforts to support social-emotional health programs and provide scholarships for local high school students.

Farris said those who wish to participate can adopt ducks anytime before 3 p.m. on Sunday.

"We're going to have adoption centers at RiverFest, too," Farris said.

More prizes are being donated every day, she said. Winners could potentially receive a guitar, gift certificates or $1,000.