Toad "Stuck" Days

Every May, Conway has a festival called Toad Suck Daze. We missed it last year because it was during the time that JC was living out here and we were still in Oklahoma getting ready to move, so this year was our first. It is a big festival that goes on downtown with food, music, arts and crafts, and a carnival. If you were like me, you are wondering where the name came from. This is what I found....

What does "Toad Suck" mean anyway?

Well, the answer is quite simple... Long ago, steamboats traveled the Arkansas River when the water was at the right depth. When it wasn't, the captains and their crew tied up to wait where the Toad Suck Lock and Dam now spans the river. While they waited, they refreshed themselves at the local tavern there, to the dismay of the folks living nearby, who said: "They suck on the bottle 'til they swell up like toads." Hence, the name Toad Suck. The tavern is long gone, but the legend and fun live on at Toad Suck Daze.

Everyone around here gets VERY excited about Toad Suck Daze. Around our neighborhood, the highlight of Toad Suck Daze are the toad races. Every elementary school age child on our block was running around, for a week prior to the festival, trying to catch the biggest and best toad to take to school for the preliminary toad races. It is my understanding that the winners in the schools get to take their toads to the festival to race. Well, our little Neely was right there in the middle of it, and mad as a hornet when she found out she was too little to race toads at school. So to appease her, daddy promised to take her toad hunting all by herself. Now, toad hunting really isn't a hunt. They are everywhere! We have toads on our front porch all spring/summer long. They are along the fencelines, and in the backyard (I actually hit several throughout the summer while I mow....YUCK!) So, Neely and daddy went out and caught several very nice toads. She was pleased as punch...although daddy did all the actual "catching". We were finally able to get her to hold one....she was too cute! The school kids got a nice, fancy box from school to put their toad in and take to school . The best I could find was this old shoe box...the only problem was that Neely's toads kept getting stuck in the holes on the side of the shoebox trying to escape! So we had our own "Toad STUCK Days"!