Above / Eighteen way-larger-than-life duck sculptures now dot the dry landscape throughout downtown Naperville. Be sure to see “GARY WEBFOOT” by the Dandelion Fountain. The Riverwalk Covered Bridge at WEBster Street will be a good place to watch the Riverwalk Duck Race when it flies off the Eagle Street Bridge at 11AM Fri., June 6. (PN Photo, June 3)
Updated Post, June 6, 2025 / Noon report with ALERT & WINNERS! And the first three winners are rubber duckies with #709 (Cindy Dumbell); #1,748 (A. M. Papanos) and #1,656 (Keri-Lyn Krafthefer). Last to finish into the net was #828.
Thanks to everybody who attended the Riverwalk Duck Race to benefit the Naperville Riverwalk Foundation, founded in 1997 to help raise private funds to enhance and educate about Naperville’s natural treasure that was first established in 1981. Thanks also to everybody for buying duck packs of one or three or 15!
Watch for a gallery of photos coming soon. And thanks to Bob Binder for tooting his trumpet to the tune of “Call to the Post.”
One more thing…Has anybody seen Bob Ross Jumbo duck, a wonderful tribute to art and the 2019 Duck Race? He’s reported missing from Pinot’s Palette.
Updated Post, June 5, 2025 / 11:45AM – SOLD OUT!
Updated Post, June 5, 2025 / Howie Dewin? Thanks to all for the fun-loving spirit that has been devoted to naming entries and supporting the 2025 Riverwalk Duck Race.
Right now, at 8:30AM, only 94 ducks remain to be adopted! When all the numbers are taken, that’s it. No duck numbers will be sold at the race.
Hot off the press, the June issue of Positively Naperville fit the bill for a photo of Rotarians in attendance at the Rotary Club of Naperville-Downtown, a.k.a. 4:44 Club, where the club meets on Wednesdays at Angeli’s Restaurant.
Earlier in the day, Club President Chuck Corrigan had taken a plunge to enter the Riverwalk Duck Race with a generous donation. Winging it during the meeting, Mary Corrigan drew the Rotary International logo on a jumbo rubber duck collectible to be featured in a group photo.
Will all the ducks be adopted? Kindly check back. If and when all 2,025 ducks are numbered before they take a dive from the Eagle Street Bridge, you’ll be able to read about it right here. And after the race, you’ll find the winning numbers here, too.
PN’s WEBsite designer predicts all ducks will be adopted before 1PM today, June 5. Time will tell.
Again, thanks for reading!
Updated Post, June 4, 2025 / Oh, what a beautiful morning! It’s raining. And that means it’s a good day for ducks! Plus, yesterday a record 268 rubber ducky numbers were purchased for Friday’s Riverwalk Duck Race. Thanks to all.
Just now, at 10:30AM Wednesday, organizers expressed optimism that the remaining 241 duck numbers of 2,025 numbers will find adopters before tomorrow’s deadline.
Remember! It’s no DNA duck tale that duck sales for this Friday’s Riverwalk Duck Race end Thurs., June 5.
Updated Post, June 3, 2025 / Thanks to everybody for buying 10-buck ducks to benefit the Naperville Riverwalk Foundation. Also remember NO duck sales the day of the race. And you don’t have to be present to win.
Kindly note the best place to watch the race will be from the low-flow walks along the DuPage River from Eagle Street to just east beyond the Riverwalk Covered Bridge at Webster Street. A team from the Naperville Park District will be ready with nets to catch the ducks by a light pole in front of Vasili’s and under the big sign way up there that says “Water Street Shops.”
The ducks will be released from a huge net from the Eagle Street Bridge promptly after “Call to the Post” is performed by Bob Binder on his trumpet. The trumpet will begin sounding at 11AM Fri., June 6.
First place is $1,981. (1981 is the year the Riverwalk was dedicated to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the year the City’s namesake, Joe Naper, arrived here with his family in 1831.) Second place is $300 DNA Gift Cards. Third place is $150 DNA Gift Cards.
So come on down Friday morning, June 6. Plan to shop and enjoy lunch after the little rubber duck race. Then take a tour of the big duck sculptures “Splashing into Summer” throughout the Central Business District in the heart of Naperville.
Decorated Duck Tales from 2019
Updated Post, June 2, 2025 / Bob Ross Duck, pictured on the corner of the table, just asked the Naperville Riverwalk Duck, “Did you know that Huey, Dewey & Louie just entered the Riverwalk Duck Race set for this 11AM Friday, June 6? What’s more, today, June 2, is the day to get set for ‘Splashing into Summer’ when 18 great big decorated duck sculptures arrive to attract attention in downtown Naperville. You might say it’s getting down to the wire.”
According to the 2025 Riverwalk Duck Race website on June 2, where all the rules, prizes and other information are available, more than 1,465 rubber duck numbers of 2,025 duck numbers have been sold. Be first on your block to flock to downtown to see the the 2025 outdoor exhibit.
Updated Post, May 23, 2025 / Here’s another Lucky Ducky Tale of Sales: At 9:46AM, May 23, the tally of sales for the 2025 Naperville Riverwalk Duck Race showed another 234 ducks have sold this week with 776 ducks remaining to be purchased by 11:59PM June 5 for the race that is set to begin at 11AM Fri., June 6, from the Eagle Street Bridge.
With memories of Groucho Marx silliness featured in a literary work titled “Why a Duck? Visual and Verbal Gems from the Marx Brothers Movies,” you can bet your life we’re hoping some of the promotion for this Naperville Riverwalk fundraiser will quack you up.
Believe it or not… Several weeks ago, mindful of the Riverwalk Duck Race, when we crossed the footbridge on the way back to the parking lot at Knoch Knolls Park, we snapped a photo of kids playing Duck, Duck, Goose along the DuPage River. We can’t make up all these just ducky coincidences!
Thanks to everybody for supporting this fun little fundraiser for the Riverwalk Foundation that aims to create awareness not to feed waterfowl. Let wildlife be wild.
2025 Riverwalk Duck Race reports 18 days down, 18 days to go to sell numbers
Original Post, May 19, 2025 / May 18, 2025, marked the first 18 days of rubber duck sales that began on May 1. Now with 18 days remaining to sell numbers for little rubber ducks to compete in the race on Fri., June 6, from the Eagle Street Bridge to the Riverwalk Covered Bridge at Webster Street, it’s significant to note the number of days left to sell ducks has reached the midway mark.
And believe it or not, with 18 days to go, the Riverwalk Duck Race also passed the halfway mark in rubber duck number sales. According to the 2025 Riverwalk Duck Race website on May 18, where all the rules, prizes and other information are available, more of the 2,025 rubber duck numbers had been sold than it has left to sell.
All this may seem confusing. But maybe it’s serendipity!
Simply put, as of May 18, 2025, fewer duck numbers remain available in the race: “1,015 sold to 1,010 available.”
Note to add, the 2025 Riverwalk Duck Race is being presented by the Downtown Naperville Alliance in partnership with Castle Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Naperville to benefit the Riverwalk Foundation.
Moving right along, singers might sing along to the tune of “Twelve Days of Christmas.”
On the 18th day of duck sales
A true tally was set half way.
1,015 ducks have been sold!
Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!
For some reason, through all the ups and downs of the DuPage River, tracking sales and telling duck tales about the progress of the 2025 Riverwalk Duck Race, daffy puns come to mind.
Thanks to everyone who enters the race! Watch for updates as they happen and find more information with reasons to flock to downtown Naperville every day at downtownnaperville.com! —PN
