DOWAGIAC — Blue, yellow and red ducks raced across the Dowagiac Creek vying for a first-place finish — only, they moved slowly as their wings were made of plastic. 

The Dowagiac Fine Arts Boosters Club released numbered bathwater toys as part of a raffle ticket fundraiser hosted at 2 p.m. Saturday. The event was also part of Dowagiac’s Summer in the City festival. The ducks were dropped over a bridge into the Dowagiac Creek and quickly floated with the river where club members waited at the finish line to scoop them up with nets.

The booster club, which was formed in September 2009, supports all fine arts in the Dowagiac school system, including everything from music to dancing to band. The club prioritizes being inclusive of all ages and has parents, guardians, teachers and students involved, according to organizers. At the fundraiser, alumni, a union board member and current students were all represented.

At the duck release on Saturday, the club’s president, Kirsten Novak, ran the event for her first time, but the booster club has been doing the fundraiser since the club was formed.

“The fundraiser benefits our scholarships,” Novak said. “We give scholarships out every year, and we also have the Young Americans coming up.”

The Young Americans is one of the booster club’s biggest events, and one of the club’s own, Jessica Robinson, will be continuing on as a Young American participant this upcoming year. The Young Americans is a comprehensive performance workshop that covers vocal techniques, dance and more. Participants learn a show in three days and help students work together, according to youngamericans.org.

When it comes to getting the word out about the ducks, students are given them in April and sell them for $5 each until the event at Summer in the City. The club also sells tickets downtown prior to the release. With the duck fundraiser completed, the club will start focusing on its other fundraising ideas.

“We do lots of events throughout the year,” Novak said. “We are looking at doing more raffles and a car wash. We start that planning at the beginning of the year, so we have all summer to get our ideas together.”

As president, Novak has gone into Dowagiac schools this year and spoken with children about what fundraisers they would like to see and participate in. The club continues to host food fundraisers and would like to continue doing their Shop with a Choir Student, fundraiser, but is figuring out the details since Shopko is closed now.

Novak, who is a Dowagiac alumna herself, has always had strong ties to the booster club.

“My mom started the club with my grandma,” Novak said. “My grandma’s grandpa actually started the band boosters for Dowagiac, too. So, I went to a lot of the art boosters’ first meetings. I just never was on the board until this year.”

Once the school year rolls around, the Dowagiac Fine Arts Boosters Club will be meet on every Tuesday at the end of the month. Currently, the group is in transition of moving their meeting space to ACTION Ministries Center. At the club’s last meeting, it had 15 to 20 people, and members are excited to add two more Dowagiac alumni, Destin Vongphakdy and Amanda Craft.

“We have five board members now,” Novak said. “We started new stuff this year, so we have a lot more people who are willing to work with us.”

As the club gears up to start the school year, they will be releasing more information about their upcoming fundraisers and events.

“We really just want to support everything that encompasses the fine arts,” Novak said.