By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
On your marks, get set...float! Decades ago, Fourth of July celebrations were a big deal in the city of Great Bend. Now that families often turn to their own celebrations for Independence Day, Party in the Park each August gives Great Benders another chance to celebrate before the summer ends. The Kiwanis Anything that Floats Raft Race is a throwback to those old July 4 parties.
"We're really just trying to bring back good, old-fashioned fun in Great Bend," said Great Bend Community Coordinator Christina Hayes. "I guess I just encourage the people to get creative. It doesn't cost anything other than the materials to create the float. It doesn't cost to enter. We would just love for them to partake in the fun."
The 10th annual Party in the Park is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 13. The fun begins with an obstacle mud run at 8:30 a.m., leading into the wet-dry parade through Vets Park at 10 a.m., and the Anything that Floats Race at Vets Lake at 11:15 a.m.
The rules for the race are simple: be creative. All entries must be human powered and cannot have a hull. All rafts must have room for between two and six crew members, and plain innertubes are not allowed.
Fuller Brush sponsored the race in the 1970s, and pictures from that era show expansive, creative floating devices on the water and large crowds of spectators to cheer them on. Hayes said entries this year will include the Great Bend Fire Department and one with her very own staff. The goal is more participation than the three entries in last year's reintroduction of the race. Cash prizes are an added incentive for this year's event.
"If you Google 'Anything that Floats races,' there are some fun, unique little contraptions that people come up with," Hayes said. "Really, we just want to have a good time. It can be just an inflatable that people try to race across. The only rule is that people can't have a boat hull."
CLICK HERE for a registration form and a full list of contest rules.