pressherald.com/2025/07/07/great-bridgton-duck-race-raises-funds-for-rotary-club-causes

July 7, 2025

The 26th annual Great Bridgton Duck Race took place on the Fourth of July at Stevens Brook.

Lisa Ryan, president of Rotary Club of Bridgton-Lake Region, and Emma Bodwell, district governor for Rotary District 7780, spoke about the importance of the race.

They said the event, which has been held since the 1990s, sees thousands of rubber ducks floating down Stevens Brook, with the top three duck owners awarded cash prizes of $500, $250 and $100. 

The event raises money for the Rotary Club, which Bodwell and Ryan said focuses on multiple humanitarian missions both in the Lakes Region and around the world. Initiatives supported by the Rotary Club include local scholarships, early childhood literacy, veterans’ initiatives, food pantries, Little Free Libraries, and more. The duck race has been a staple fundraiser for decades, selling out in the past couple of years, and the most recent event raising $4,000, which later grew to $60,000 with matching grant funds.

According to organizers, the Rotary Club buys ducks en masse ahead of the race. At the race, guests buy tickets with numbers for $5, each corresponding with a different duck. Those with the numbers that match the first three ducks to cross the finish line win cash prizes. 

To control the flow of the ducks, a coordinator puts up a screen past the finish line to prevent the ducks from going further into the brook, and noodles are placed to line the course so that the ducks don’t get caught in the brook’s eddies. After the race, volunteers go through Stevens Brook to clean out the remaining rubber ducks.

Ahead of the race, the Rotary Club hosted a pasta dinner for Bridgton residents at Stevens Brook Elementary School.

Bodwell and Ryan said the dinner, previously organized by the Friends of the Bridgton Library, was resurrected by the Rotary Club in 2024. The event, they said, was a kickoff for Bridgton’s Independence Day celebrations, which, in addition to the duck race, included a fireworks celebration on the night of July 3, a craft fair hosted by the Bridgton Recreation Department, and the Bridgton 4 on the Fourth, a 4-mile road race that raises money for Bridgton Public Library and other charities.

This year’s winner of the duck race was Scott Perry. His duck, No. 1647, floated to the first- place prize of $500. Rounding out the podium were Hank Steward and Rosemary Wiser, whose ducks, No. 2821 and No. 798, earned $250 and $100, respectively.