Heritage Christian Academy headmaster Gail Leonard has issued the following statement about the cancellation of the first Duck Race, which was scheduled for tomorrow, May 19:

"HCA is heartbroken, but the Duck Race is cancelled. We were unaware of a necessary state permit and we are not allowed to conduct the race. We want to thank whoever brought this to the state’s attention because we have no desire to be in violation of any laws. We so wish we had known sooner so we could have saved the great inconvenience to all of our vendors and guests. Full refunds for your duck adoption & other fees will be provided; please, contact the school at 423-526-2807. We are so very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused to anyone and to our community beneficiaries that we are unable to bless.

We also want to encourage other organizations in our area who utilize cake-walks and raffles to survive; please, make sure you submit the proper annual application to Nashville so that you do not suffer the significant losses and great disappointment that we have through cancelling this event. We look forward to being able to support our community partners in the near future."

The event was scheduled for New Tazewell Park and proceeds were to benefit HCA, various Claiborne County Volunteer Fire Departments, and the Claiborne Animal Shelter. Several vendors and entertainers were scheduled to attend.