The Taft Public Library in Mendon will be celebrating the 25th running of its Great Cardboard Boat Race this summer. Every July, intrepid boaters take to the waters of Lake Nipmuc to try their hand at racing a cardboard boat of their own creation. These are not boats in miniature. Participants construct boats to be helmed by one person, two people, or three or more occupants. Sometimes they float and sometimes they don’t. The fun is in finding out. This year’s boat race is scheduled for Wednesday, July 23, at the Mendon Town Beach. Boat check-in and inspection begins at 5:30 p.m. with the races starting promptly at 6:30 p.m. Rain date for the race is Tuesday, July 29.

Credit former Taft Children’s Librarian Susan Bertram as the originator of the boat race in the late 1990s. Since that time, the race has remained the cornerstone event of the library’s Summer Reading program. Awards are given for first, second, and third place as well as categories like most creative design, most spirited team, and most spectacular sinking. The race is run with the assistance of library staff, Library Trustees, and the Taft Friends group as well as the Mendon Parks Department. 

In honor of the 25th anniversary, the library has been working on a special 25 for 25 initiative this spring, an effort to get 25 boats registered to race in this year’s event. Rules and registration, which includes a list of all award categories, can be picked up at the library. Online registration will be posted in June.

Anyone from Mendon or surrounding communities can participate. The library also encourages town departments and local businesses to enter a boat.  For the past few years, the Mendon Brothers of the Brush have routinely challenged organizations in the Group Challenge category, including the Mendon Police Department and Fire Department and Select Board for charity.

For those mystified about how to construct a cardboard boat to keep one person afloat much less two or six people, the library is hosting boat construction workshops the evenings of Thursday, May 29, Wednesday, June 18, and Thursday, July 17. Contact the library at 508-473-3359 for additional details on workshops and visit www.taftpubliclibrary.org to register for one.

Special 25th anniversary t-shirts are on sale at the library by the Friends of the Taft Public Library for $20 each. Proceeds go toward future library programming.