The Chamber of Commerce of Smyth County hosted the 2nd Annual Great Rubber Duck Race and Family Fun Day on August 12th, 2023 in the Chilhowie Town Park. This years event was a great hit among community members with over 300 people in attendance. The event grew significantly since its creation last year to include over 25 vendors, a foam party and live music sponsored by the Town of Chilhowie, and the addition of 500 rubber ducks.
In 2022, the Great Rubber Duck Race included 500 rubber ducks floating down the river with the first place duck winning $500. For 2023, we made the race bigger and better by adding an additional 500 ducks and more prizes! First place was $500, second place winnings were $250, third place was $100 and we even gave a prize of $50 to the last duck!
The Smyth County Chamber of Commerce could not make events, such as the Great Rubber Duck Race happen if we did not have the support of our wonderful sponsors. We would like to thank Woodgrain of Marion and the Marion Kiwanis Club for their sponsoring of the prizes and our event sponsors Cliff Burnette State Farm, Richardson Ambulance Services, Martin’s Garage, and Goodman Jewelers. We would also like to thank the Town of Chilhowie for hosting the foam party, inflatables, and live music!
The Great Rubber Duck Race is a fundraiser for the Smyth County Imagination Library, which supplies books to children ages 0 to 5 who live in Smyth County. This year, the Great Rubber Duck Race raised over $1,000 for the Imagination Library. Thank you to all who participated, donated, and volunteered to make this event possible!
