DESTIN — Sometimes a day at the office isn’t so bad.
Especially when the office sends you down the newest slide at Big Kahuna’s Water & Adventure Park.
Wednesday morning, local leaders celebrated the opening of the park’s newest slide, the Kowabunga, with a friendly race to raise money for charity.
Race winners Jaime Hall of HarborWalk Village, Andrew Smith of the U.S. Air Force, Doug Rainer of the city of Destin and Jeff Peters from the city of Fort Walton Beach each won $250 for charities of their choice including Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (ASPCA), United Way of Okaloosa County and Shelter House.
“We’re hoping in the future to make this an annual event and bring in a larger sum,” said Greg Abel, sales and marketing manager for Big Kahuna’s.
Peters, recreation and services director for Fort Walton Beach, was the last man standing after the races and raised an extra $1,000 and was named “King Kowabunga.” Overall, he raised $1,250 for Shelter House.
“I’m going to place my trophy at City Hall — right next to the city manager’s office,” he said joking about his opponents.
State Representative Matt Gaetz may not have taken a trophy home, but was just happy to make it down.
“I’m mostly pleased that no emergency responders were necessary for me to complete the race,” he said.
Although it may have a been a bit awkward to compete against co-workers, Rainer, Destin’s public information officer, rose above the competition to take third place.
“I felt a little guilty about beating the mayor and my boss, but I guess the fastest usually win,” he said.
As for the nearly-five story high slide, Rainer said its a thrilling, and fast, ride.
“If you can get over the climb up the stairs, it’s a pretty good trip down,” he said.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Jennie McKeon at 850-315-4432 or jmckeon@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @JennieMnwfdn.
