BALDWINSVILLE — The wait is over: Baldwinsville Rotary’s Seneca River Days celebration returns to Baldwinsville next Saturday, Aug. 14.

While this year’s event might look a bit different thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rotarian Ken Schmidt said the service club is excited to return to the river.

“It feels very good,” Schmidt said. “We were preparing for Seneca River Days last year at the beginning of 2020 after having our best Seneca River Days ever in 2019. We were very optimistic.”

COVID forced the cancellation of the 2020 event, and ever-changing pandemic guidance from state and federal officials meant Rotary only received the green light for SRD 2021 a couple of months ago. An event-planning process that typically takes seven or eight months was condensed into seven or eight weeks, Schmidt said.

“I’m just very impressed with all of the effort that’s been made to make this happen in such a short amount of time,” Schmidt said.

Seneca River Days and the B’ville Big Chill make up about 90% of Baldwinsville Rotary’s budget, Schmidt said, so COVID scuttled the club’s ability to fund community initiatives.

“That significantly curtailed our donations to other entities,” he said.

This year’s pared-down celebration takes place solely on Paper Mill Island. Normally, family activities and booths for local organizations are set up in Mercer Park. You won’t find any bounce houses or kayaking this year, but attendees can still look forward to a family-friendly afternoon of food trucks, face painting, music and magic — free and open to the public.

The afternoon wraps up with the Great Seneca River Duck Pluck at 4:30 p.m. Thanks to Horan Insurance, State Farm and Steel in the Air, Rotary is giving away a total of $2,000 in prizes for the winning ducks. Duck tickets are $5 each or $25 for a “flock” of six ducks.

After a short break to set up for the evening festivities, the fun continues with a ticketed celebration featuring live bands, food and fireworks sponsored by Honda City of Liverpool. At press time, Vote for Pete was one of the bands confirmed to perform.

While the CDC is recommending Onondaga County residents resume wearing masks indoors, Baldwinsville Rotary is still hammering out the final details of its COVID safety protocols for the outdoor SRD event. Visit facebook.com/senecariverdays for updates.

Nancy Howe, Rotarian and assistant director of the Baldwinsville Public Library, shared the event’s health and safety policy with the Messenger.

“We are requiring masks for those not fully vaccinated. We will not be questioning vaccination status, but rather using the honor system. Masks and hand sanitizer will be available for all attending both the day and evening events. Tables and chairs will be set up in a socially distanced manner. There will be signage indicating our guidelines for mask wearing and social distancing throughout the Island,” she said. “These are our current H&S guidelines for Seneca River Day, based on events without an indoor component. We are monitoring the COVID situation. Should there be changes in state, county, or village guidelines, we will adjust our requirements accordingly in order to ensure a safe and enjoyable day for all.”

The free “family fun day” portion of Seneca River Days 2021 takes place from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14, at Paper Mill Island. Gates reopen at 6 p.m. for the evening portion; admission is $5.

“Coolers/outside food and beverage will not be allowed, but we encourage people to bring lawn chairs,” Schmidt said of the evening event.

Visit senecariverdays.com for more information.