Kids’ Day Out in Burnet offers day of fun and food for free
DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
BURNET — After a couple weeks in school, there’s one thing every kid needs: a day out.
How fortunate that the Burnet County Fair and Rodeo Association came up with the same idea 10 years ago with the first Kids’ Day Out.
Now, a decade later, association members are still throwing a party for the kids — and it’s still free.
“When we started, we had maybe 700 to 800 people come through,” event organizer Dale Hill said. “Now we have anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 people, and that includes kids, parents and grandparents. It’s steadily been growing as we’ve tried to improve it each year.”
This year’s Kids’ Day Out is Sept. 13 at the YMCA of the Highland Lakes at Galloway-Hammond, 1601 S. Water St. (U.S. 281) in Burnet. The gates open at 9 a.m. with the fun running until 3 p.m. (or whenever you just get too tuckered out to continue.)
While Hill has a list of things going on that day, it would take up almost a whole page of the paper to really give each a fair shake, so the best advice is to just get out to there Sept. 13 and expect to have fun.
Oh, and it’s free. Well, there is one small caveat for the admission: It’s free as long as you bring one canned food item for a donation that will go to an area food pantry. Now, beyond that, all the activities and food are free including snow cones and hotdogs.
If you’re still riding the fence a bit about coming out, here are a few things to whet your appetite.
Have your kids every tried kayaking? OK, maybe you don’t own a kayak, so they really haven’t had the opportunity. Well organizers have lined up members of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department who will be hauling in a truckload of kayaks to give kids a go.
“That’s really been a lot of fun the past several years,” Hill said. “Kids enjoy trying out the kayaks and paddling.”
Hill said they are anticipating a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter, and the Air Evac helicopter will be on hand for closer look. A crew from Fort Hood in Killeen will also set up a display.
Kids can even check out some bears, elk and other wildlife (mounted ones, of course.) A local model airplane club will fly their planes.
The day includes a mix of displays as well as fun activities. Every year, the event grows and gets better.
Kids’ Day Out, in some ways, is a “thank you” to the community from the Burnet County Fair and Rodeo Association. Hill said the board had turned to the community over the years for support in so many areas that he suggested the association do something in return. And they came up with Kids’ Day Out.
“It’s been getting better and better every year,” he said.
daniel@thepicayune.com