Let's get quackin'

At the Fox Valley Duck Race held annually to benefit Boys and Girls Club of Elgin, it's the river that does all the work, but it's that lovable yellow flotilla -- thousands strong -- that gets all the attention.

Everyone thinks that's just ducky, though, and this year the quackers will be honored for the first time with an all-day event of their own, Duckapalooza 2007.

For the last several years, the highly successful fundraiser piggybacked on other Elgin community events -- a fine arts festival, a back-to-school carnival, Fiesta Salsa.

This year, the ducks have come of age.

"The committee wanted a challenge and felt that this event is getting big enough that it could be a stand-alone event," said Alan Brostoff, development director for Boys and Girls Club.

He's getting his ducks in a row for the Saturday activities at Elgin's brand-new Festival Park, Prairie Street and South Grove Avenue.

Besides the big race, sponsored by Biggers Chevrolet, a Chase-sponsored music festival will stage 11 bands, two of which are flying in from the East Coast to perform.

National recording artists the Smithereens will headline at 9:30 p.m.

The whole thing gets started at noon when food vendors open for business and six teen rock groups from the Fox Valley open a battle of the bands.

The featured artists, competing for first-, second- and third-place gift cards from Goodtime Music, are Murder for Her Majesty, 33 1/3, Caldera, With Relevance, The Great Quakes and Pisces at the Animal Fair.

Free children's activities, including games and face painting, also begin at noon.

At 2 p.m., some 13,000 rubber duckies will be corralled in the Fox River with the assistance of SEIU Local 73, Brostoff said. When the horn blows and the gate opens, the current takes over and the ducks catch a ride.

It's a lively, energy-filled atmosphere, he said, with lots of whooping and hollering. But the funny thing is, no one knows which of the nearly identical ducks to root for.

"When the weather's good, we get 5,000 people along the side of the river," Brostoff said, "and they're all yelling at ducks to float down the river, and nobody knows whose duck is whose."

But that's the fun of it, and it also prevents cheating. After the first ducks float across the finish line, prize winners will be identified by the numbers on the ducks' bottoms.

Twenty ducks will be plucked from the Fox, though there are 10 prizes to be had. Brostoff said the extras are standbys in case some prizes go unclaimed, as usually happens.

The first lucky duck will win a brand-new Chevy Aveo donated by Biggers Chevrolet. Other prizes include a $1,000 Jewel-Osco shopping spree, $1,000 savings bond from Midwest Bank, a guitar from Goodtime Music, a year's supply of car washes from Elgin Car Wash, one-year membership to Curves, $500 gift certificate from Merlin 200,000 Mile Shop, ice cream for a year from Colonial Cafe, a day at Karena's Salon and Spa, and an overnight getaway at the Holiday Inn Chicago-Northwest, with dinner at the Anvil Club.

There's also a chance to win $1 million, but don't let it ruffle your feathers if you don't beat the odds. First, you'd have to have the first-place duck. Then, when Brostoff makes a phone call at the festivities to discover what number has been preselected for the million dollar duck, the number on your duck's bottom has to match.

The million dollar contest is sponsored by MidAmerica Bank. Winning is a long shot, of course, but Brostoff said people love the drama.

At 4 and 5 p.m., Red Bull will present Jeff Tilton and Tommy Clowers of TNT Action Sports in freestyle motocross demonstrations.

Evening performers at the music festival include Drop, a local heavy metal band; Odd Zero, punk musicians from New York; local cover bands The Lennys and Bagshot Row, and The Smithereens.

The concerts and festival activities are free, but donations are welcome for the Boys and Girls Club general operating fund. The nonprofit organization also is just $250,000 shy of completing a $3 million capital campaign for the new home it hopes to open next spring.

The old office building and clubhouse have already been torn down, and the charity is set up in temporary locations. With 600 regular attenders and 1,200 more children served in single programs, Brostoff said the club will be able to accommodate five times as many kids in the new building as in the old.

Duckapalooza duck adoptions cost $5 each, but a $25 "quack pack" of five ducks or a $100 "flock" of 20 come with extra premiums. The yellow fellows are available at the festival or in advance at Jewel-Osco stores in Elgin, South Elgin, West Dundee and the Schaumburg Road location in Schaumburg.

Or, go to elginducks.com or call (847) 608-5017, ext. 3.

If you go

What: Duckapalooza 2007, to benefit Boys and Girls Club of Elgin

When: Saturday

Where: Festival Park, Prairie Street and South Grove Avenue

Details: Children's activities and battle of the bands start at noon; duck race is at 2 p.m.; motocross demonstration at 4 p.m.; bands to play in evening, including the Smithereens at 9:30 p.m.

Adopt a duck: elginducks.com or (847) 608-5017, ext. 3