August 27, 2014 at 5:00 p.m.
PotatoFest returns for second helping
PotatoFest returns for second helping
By Kayla Thomason-
The day will start with a potato pancake breakfast from 8 to 10:30 a.m. After breakfast, Alice in Dairyland will open the festival with a speech.
Little children can participate in the adorable Tater Tot Parade. They are encouraged to dress up but costumes are not mandatory.
At 10 a.m. crowds will gather on Davenport Street to watch the Couch Potato race, sponsored by the YMCA of the Northwoods.
Also on the schedule are the Littlest Spud race, where infants crawl to the finish line, potato sack races for children and adults, and a cribbage tournament.
The fun doesn't stop there, contestants can get their fill at the mashed potato eating contest, the French Fry Frenzy French fry eating contest, or the potato salad cook-off.
Children can have fun digging in the sand for a special potato.
"That was the one where they hide a whole bunch of potatoes in a giant pile of sand and there's a golden potato [that the children are trying to find]," said Maggie Steffen, executive director of DRI.
Last year's winner took home a bike. This year's prize has yet to be revealed.
Another activity, Feed the Hodag Spud Fling, is available for children and adults.
Children will be given water balloons and adults a baked potato. They will try to throw the items into the Hodag's mouth.
A 3-on-3 basketball tournament will be held at the old depot at the end of Brown Street near Debyle's.
Musical entertainment will be offered throughout the day.
An estimated 4,000 people attended last year's inaugural PotatoFest. The response was so strong that DRI and Tri-County have expanded the event this year.
One new event is the Duck Regatta, sponsored by the Oneida County Tavern League.
A whopping 5,000 rubber duckies will be released into the Wisconsin River for the regatta.
One or two front-end loaders will release the ducks from the Davenport Bridge at 3 p.m. It will take them about an hour and a half to float to the finish line.
The first 50 ducks to reach the end will be scooped up and taken to the PotatoFest grounds. At 5 p.m. they will be mixed up in a roller and the first 20 ducks drawn will earn their owner some money.
First prize is $2,000, second through 10th place will receive $500 and 11th through 19th place will earn $250. The 20th duck chosen will net its owner $1,000. The names of the winners will be posted.
"This is actually bringing back a downtown Rhinelander favorite," said Aaron Schultz, owner of Big Daddy's and vice president of the Oneida County Tavern League. "The duck race used to be a big deal in Rhinelander and it just went by the wayside. They couldn't get people to volunteer and do this sort of stuff so they haven't done it in a long time."
Organizers are hoping the regatta during PotatoFest will draw in crowds and in turn help local organizations.
"We wanted to bring in another way, honestly, to help raise donations for local community organizations and also do something that is family-related and entertaining and fun for people," said Braden Bayne-Allison, regatta coordinator.
Ducks are numbered to a corresponding ticket and anyone can purchase one.
Tickets may be purchased for $5 at any bar or restaurant that is a member of the Oneida County Tavern League, at the Chamber of Commerce or the DRI office.
There will be a master list so those hosting the event will know who purchased the ticket and where it was sold.
"If they lose their ticket they don't need it to claim their prize because we will have their name, their address and their phone number and we will just contact them," Schultz said.
Rules for the contest will be posted at www.downtownrhinelanderinc.com.
DRI, Tri-County Council, and the Oneida County Tavern League will split the proceeds.
"We're hoping to keep the large afternoon crowd kind of there and interested as we bridge in to having more live music and more events in the evening," Bayne-Allison said.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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