Park gives birth to plastic mystery
<p>Lucreita MacEvil of Coeur d' Alene and her daughter, Lucy, look on in astonishment at the new arrival on McEuen Park's splashpad. Nobody seems to know what the new creature is, or how and where it might have originated.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - City parks officials and some of the world's most renowned playground scientists are struggling with what's being called The Magical McEuen Mystery.
Nine months after the park closed for the season, a new feature has suddenly appeared on the McEuen splashpad. The strange-looking, stationary creature is located between the bowsprit-squirting SS Kiwanis and the squirting beaver affectionately known as "Becky" to children. The strange new feature squirts from multiple apertures.
"We have no idea what it is or where the heck it came from," said Litmus Testimonius, city parks superintendent. "You know, you expect vandals to break or even steal stuff from a playground. But for a permanent new display to just show up? We don't get it."
Baffled by the mystery and flush with cash, city officials spent $63,409 to bring in playground scientists from two distinguished institutions: Kactus Kindercare of Ajo, Ariz., and Wee Pee Happilee from Beijing, China.
"They took plastic DNA samples from the little feller but, because there's no such thing as a plastic DNA database anywhere in the world, the results proved negative," Testimonius explained gravely. "All this effort and expense, and we still have no idea what the heck has happened here."
Desperate for an answer, the city is offering a reward of $10,000 to the first person who can explain from where the new creature feature might have come from. If you think you know, all you have to do to claim the $10,000 is call
see MYSTERY, C7