Wally The Duck's Wichita Falls South Weeks Park Pond Return

A couple days ago, heading east on Southwest Parkway, en route to Walmart, I was pleased to see Wally the Giant Duck has returned to the fish pond in South Weeks Park.

Driving by it appeared Wally looked to be shining brighter than he shined previously.

Around the most recent 4th of July Wally put in a brief appearance on Lake Wichita, about a mile from where he is currently floating.

During that Lake Wichita appearance Wally was visited by the Guinness people who judge big things, to determine if Wally the Duck needed to be recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as being the World's Biggest Wooden Duck.

Unfortunately it was determined Wally was not big enough, so Wichita Falls still has only one world class record, that being the town with the world's littlest skyscraper.

This Saturday morning's Wichita Falls Times News Record, in its online version, has an article about Wally the Duck's reappearance, with the article imaginatively titled Fowl-weather friend: Wally the Wood Duck returns to pond for one year.

Wally had been blown out of the water by a storm, months ago. Well, actually not blown out of the water, but blown loose from its anchorage, with the wind crashing Wally against the cement shore, doing serious damage.

Wally's creator, Ralph Stearns, took the duck home for repairs, which included refurbishing Wally's outer coating, hence his new shiny appearance.

Wally has now gained some weight, which should make him more impervious to wind, that and his anchorage has been doubled.

Wally the Duck and his creator are hoping to be reimbursed for the cost of his creation and restoration. Currently those who managed the purse of the City of Wichita Falls do not think they have sufficient funds to help pay for Wally the Duck. I believe the dollar figure mentioned is $10,000.

Stearns spent around $8,000 of his own funds for the material which made Wally, and spent four months working on the duck.

I can think of another small town in Texas which spent money on what few think is a work of art. Around a million bucks wasted on what looks like a giant aluminum trash can to some, a cheese grater to others, and a coronary artery stint to still others. And that giant aluminum million dollar trash can does not sit in a scenic pond, it sits in the middle of an unfinished, unlandscaped, littered, weed infested eyesore of a roundabout.

Methinks somehow a few thousand bucks can be found to pay for Wally the Duck. He is quite the attraction, judging by the increase in number of people I see stopping at the fish pond at South Weeks Park...