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A dog swims in the water during Dog Splash at Star City Shores sponsored by the Lincoln Parks Foundation and the Greater Lincoln Obedience Club on Sunday.

Star City Shores wasn't filled with its normal sounds of children shrieking as they went down the slides or splashed around in the water.

Instead, Sunday night's swimmers had four legs, fur, tails and loud barks. 

Pups from across the Lincoln area cooled down at the Lincoln pool for the 14th annual dog splash Sunday evening.

Dogs — small and large alike — played fetch in the lap lanes, showed off their favorite tricks in the shallow areas and shook off on the pool deck.

The pool had a limit of 300 dogs, and was close to meeting that goal just 30 minutes after opening.

Among the masses was Martha Jane, a 5-year-old retired racing greyhound with only three legs.

Dogs and owners wade in the pool during Dog Splash at Star City Shores sponsored by the Lincoln Parks Foundation and the Greater Lincoln Obedience Club on Sunday.

Her owner, Andi Hart, adopted Martha Jane following an accident during her final race in February 2020, which led to a broken leg that never healed correctly.

The missing leg hasn't slowed Martha Jane at all, Hart said, but her love for water is minimal.

A dog runs past a walk sign during Dog Splash at Star City Shores sponsored by the Lincoln Parks Foundation and the Greater Lincoln Obedience Club on Sunday.

“I love this. Even though she doesn’t like the water, I love seeing all the other dogs," Hart said. "There’s a lot of fun chaos here, but no bad chaos.”

This was Hart's first year at the dog splash, which she attended with a group of five people and their greyhounds who also belong to the Heartland Adoption and Omaha Greyhound Lovers groups.

Participants paid $10 per dog and two handlers 8 years and older. Dogs were allowed to roam free while swimming, but were required to be leashed outside of the water. Handlers could wade knee-deep while playing with their dogs.

The event — sponsored by Lincoln Parks Foundation and the Greater Lincoln Obedience Club — marks the end of the pool season, as Lincoln Public Schools students return to school Monday.

Another pup, Paddington "Paddy," a labradoodle celebrating his first birthday, had his first real experience in the water Sunday, which he handled with grace, according to his owner, Emily Kazyak.

"It's so cute," she said. "It's great that Lincoln and the public pools do this for us. We're just very thankful for it."

Fremont Splash Station is open from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. It features a body slide and speed slide, a combination lap pool and wave pool, the Hydro-Storm, an interactive train slide, splash pad and water walk.

The Big Blue Water Park at 1200 Scott St. in Beatrice is open daily from noon to 8 p.m. The water park features a 9,000-square-foot, zero-entry pool, youth pool with fountain bubbler and toys, 124-foot loop water slide, 8-foot-wide river slide, 2 1 meter diving boards and sand volleyball courts.

Aquacourt Water Park, 2200 W. 3rd St. in Hastings, is open from noon to 8 p.m. through mid-August. It has a lazy river, wave pool, drop slide, high-dive/low-dive boards, family water slides and an interactive playground.

Fun-Plex, 7003 Q St. in Omaha, is typically open from noon to 8 p.m. It has a new swim-up bar, a play area with a 317-gallon bucket that drops every 5 minutes, the Typhoon Falls slides, a lazy river, a wave pool and kiddie area for small children.

Island Oasis, 321 E. Fonner Park Road in Grand Island, is open from noon to 9 p.m. The water park has two 60-foot speed slides, water basketball, a lily pad walk, log walk, sand volleyball, an otter slide, a 350,000-gallon wave pool, a 750-foot speed slide and six other water slides.

Norfolk AquaVenture, 715 S. First St., is open from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. It has a 54-inch, 310-foot-long raft slide, a 235-foot-long body slide, a play station with 20 water features, a wave pool, water walk, boogie woogie keyboard and a blowfish slide, along with diving boards.

The Mahoney State Park water park has a wave pool, water slides, a lap pool and a children's water playground. It will reopen Saturday with limited hours and reduced capacity.

Pawnee Pluge, 560 33rd Ave. in Columbus, is open from noon to 8 p.m. daily. The water park features the FlowRider surfing activity, a 3-meter diving platform, the AquaClimb Wall, a lazy river, three water slides, an interactive ship for toddlers, a spray park and a sea animal rope walk.

The lazy river is one of the most popular attractions at Fullerton Community Pool, which opened in 2021.

Papio Bay, 815 E. Halleck St. in Papillion, is open from noon to 8 p.m., except on Tuesdays and Thursdays when it closes at 6:30 p.m. It has heated water, zero depth entry, a butterfly slide, sand volleyball, two other water slides and diving boards.

Reach the writer at 402-473-2657 or jebbers@journalstar.com

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Thanks to a Waverly eighth grader, School District 145 students will enjoy a beefed-up version of the food that appears on their trays. 

Superintendent Paul Gausman said LPS isn't experiencing the challenge in the same way as other districts.

Island Oasis manager Diane Miller grew up in a swimming pool. The last 30 years, the self-described "pool rat" has worked for Grand Island Parks & Recreation.

"She's the hero," Bobbi Adams said. "We're always getting after her for barking, but this time it was a good thing."

Talon Dennis is currently serving a three-year prison sentence, and Marcelino  Falcon a one-year jail sentence.

A dog swims in the water during Dog Splash at Star City Shores sponsored by the Lincoln Parks Foundation and the Greater Lincoln Obedience Club on Sunday.

Dogs and owners wade in the pool during Dog Splash at Star City Shores sponsored by the Lincoln Parks Foundation and the Greater Lincoln Obedience Club on Sunday.

A dog runs past a walk sign during Dog Splash at Star City Shores sponsored by the Lincoln Parks Foundation and the Greater Lincoln Obedience Club on Sunday.

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