Community Champion: The man behind Omaha's hydrant parties
It's hot outside but there is one man keeping things cool.
This week's Community Champion is bringing people together through wet but refreshing fun.
KETV Newswatch 7 visited the hydrant party at Montclair Community Center on South 135th Avenue. They don't call it a hydrant party for nothing.
It was a hot day and dozens of kids were running through a fountain of cold water.
They also got to climb inside a firetruck and eat slushies.
All around, there was nothing but laughs and smiling faces.
"It's just fun to get hit with a water balloon or get sprayed in the face. That's what is fun about it," Tyce Dyer said.
And the man behind it all is Milton Kitchen.
"I am the official water hydrant man of summer," Kitchen said. "I started doing these back in 1982 so if I do my math right, that's 37 years."
Kitchen is retired now but he was an Omaha Public School teacher at Mortan Magnet Middle School for 31 years.
During summer, Kitchen said he wanted to do something outside the classroom.
"A very close friend of mine named Tom McGan was in charge of Omaha Parks and Rec. We met some place and I don't remember but he offered me a summer job," Kitchen said.
Since then, he has put on nearly 3,000 hydrant parties all over the city.
"We do Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we do three parties each days," Kitchen said.
That sounds like a lot of work, especially during those blistering, hot summer day. But he said it doesn't feel like work.
"I love kids and that's what this is all about," he said. "It's free entertainment, free fun so anybody can get involved."
Kitchen said he is close to turning 70 but he has no plans of retired the Hydrant Man title anytime soon.
"It's just something that I enjoy doing and as long as they have me, I'll keep doing it," he said.
There is only one week left of hydrant parties before school starts back up.
Here is the schedule:
Monday, July 29th
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. 46th & Poppleton
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. 1300 So. 27th St.
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. 10th & William St.
Wednesday, July 31st
12:00 p.m.- 1:00 p.m. 4622 Nebraska Circle
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.14850 Laurel Ave With Saddlebrook Community Center
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. 2616 N. 102nd ave
Friday, August 2nd
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. 5105 So. 37th St. with Christie Heights Community Center
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. 4808 Cass St. with AV Sorensen Community Center
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. 4314 Burt St.