An event this weekend featuring cardboard boat races and other activities will benefit the new surgery wing at Texas County Memorial Hospital.
The “Pirates of the Piney Regatta” will be held from 1-7 p.m. Saturday at Boiling Springs Resort in Licking. The afternoon will include a rubber duck race, live music and barbecue.
TCMH emergency medical services director Bill Bridges, one of the event organizers, believes the cardboard boat race will be the first of its kind in Texas County. The race will take place between the Boiling Springs bridge and the Boiling Springs river access ramp on the Big Piney River.
Adults and youth ages 16 and under can enter the race with vessels made entirely of cardboard. Each vessel must have two people inside it, and life vests must be worn. There is a $50 entry fee per boat.
Prizes will be awarded to the “people’s choice” as well as the adult and youth categories for fastest and most creative boats.
A rubber duck race will also take place between the bridge and ramp. A duck can be sponsored for $5 and the sponsor of the fastest rubber duck will win half the prize money, up to $250.
Boiling Springs Resort is hosting the musical entertainment and festivities for the day. Taylor Feighery, an acoustic guitar player and singer from St. Louis, will perform at 1 p.m., and Joshin the Giants, a four-piece Americana band from Joplin, will perform at 4 p.m.
Mike and Julie’s Smoked Meats will be on site with barbecue and fried potato nachos. TCMH employees are staffing a beverage tent.
“Many hospital employees choose to support the hospital’s ongoing construction by donating every pay period to the TCMH Healthcare Foundation, but we wanted to find another way to support our hospital,” Bridges said. “We hope that the community will join us in having a good time outside for a great cause.”
Boat race entries and rubber duck sponsorships are available by contacting Bridges at 417-967-1385 or billb@tcmh.org.