The Pennsylvania Villagers opened the final day of the Palmerton Community Festival on Sept. 11 by playing "The Star Spangled Banner."

It was the first time the festival sponsored a duck race. The little pink, blue and yellow ducks were turned loose at exactly 3 p.m. at the upper end of the park just off Lafayette Street. They raced down the creek and the first one to pass the last bridge was named the winner.People lined the creek and cheered them on. Susie Arner said the duck race was her idea. Since she is the president of the festival committee and chairman of the Halloween Parade, the two organizations will split the proceeds. Palmerton Fire Company started them on their watery journey.The tickets had been selling well the first two days of the festival and excitement mounted as people continued to buy them from noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Winners were Mitchell Quigley, Bill Reese, Bob Sell, Carol Pfeiffer and Marian Kreitz.One woman who was waiting for the colorful contestants said she did not expect to be first but thought her duck would come in second or third.American Legion Post 269 was raising money for the veterans' memorial to be built in the park. There is now a "Future home of the veterans' memorial" sign on the southwest corner of the park.Dick Nothstein provided bricks from the Chestnut Ridge Railroad. They were being sold as historic collectibles and will be available at the Heritage Center on Delaware Avenue.Names for the memorial have to be received by December 31."The big thing we'd like to do is not miss any veterans," said Commander Ed Moyer. The committee is looking for names of anyone who served from the Palmerton Area School District locale. As of this date, 3,200 names were received.Bricks with names engraved on them can be ordered until May 30. They will be used in the walkways. The Legion was also selling shirts with a design that will be part of the memorial.Lottery tickets for the month of November may be purchased by calling 610-349-2153, or at the Hungarian Club or Country Harvest.Squeals of laughter could be heard from people on the rides as they swung and spun. In addition to the rides, there were games, crafts and a chinese auction. But it was the food that people come to the festival for. By early afternoon some vendors were running out of items. One festival visitor called it "eating your way through the park."It truly is a community event as churches, schools and scouts joined professional food vendors.The rain earlier in the week left wet spots that soon turned to mud as equipment was brought in. Some vendors tried to improve the footing by spreading straw, but the wet footing did not deter the happy crowd. As one person commented - there are paved walks.