By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The city of Great Bend turned out once again for the 10th annual Party in the Park Saturday. Community Coordinator Christina Hayes provided the Great Bend City Council with some of the figures from the many events at Veterans Park. She also thanked the council for another year of support.
"I just really want to give you all a thanks," Hayes said. "To city council, not only have you guys, for 10 years, dedicated funds for this awesome event. But because you supply the funds, you're saving businesses in town from having to sponsor it, and you're saving tons of time on our hand for having to go get sponsors."
After a dip from 27 mud volleyball teams in 2019 to 17 teams last year, the Oozefest tournament regained popularity this year with 28 teams participating. The Tough Mudders won the bracket again, making it eight titles in nine years.
The Kiwanis Wet-Dry Parade featured 20 entries, including a series of ATVs. The west half, or wet side, of the parade featured a giant water fight. GB Car Care was named the wettest float, and Benefit Management was named most creative.
Nearly 90 kids painted mandalas for Paint in the Park, and an estimated 300 kids participated in the Optimist's Kid Zone wet inflatables. Rana Luna Boutique hid hundreds of keys in the park for the "Encanto" key hunt. The winner decided to share her "Encanto" movie party and cake with her Sunday school class.
The Kiwanis Anything that Floats race saw twice as many entries as last year. City of Great Bend interns Sayler Peplinski and Sahara Rziha navigated their unicorn "Rainbow Dash" for the win, just beating mother-and-son team Amy and Tyler Grove on their floating inflatable mattress. Most creative float went to the Gilmore Island ladies, sisters Sandy, Debbie, and Barb.
The Great Bend Police and Fire departments were set for a big showdown on the lake. That idea sank quickly as the police department's pedal apparatus broke at the start of the race.
"Poor PD, they had this awesome float," Hayes told the council. "They broke down right at the beginning. They were just floating there and drifting. At the end, fire came around and hosed them down."
Hayes also reported 93 entries in the car show, and 32 teams in the cornhole tournament. Just over 1,000 people attended Saturday night's concerts, including 681 adults. Hayes gave a big thanks to all the city staff and volunteers who helped make Party in the Park a success.
"One thing I learned this time about communicating with city staff is that we truly do care," she told the council. "We care about Great Bend, we care about our jobs, and we care about the public. I think we did great on customer service, providing that to the public this weekend. So kudos to everyone who was there and helped."