Today’s compact sporting calendar has a clear favorite for best use of four small legs. Hand in Paw lists a wiener-dog race among the attractions at Saturday’s Howlers & Hofbrau gathering at On Tap Liberty Park. The Sept. 12 event runs from noon to 5 p.m. and also includes Pups on the Patio, food and drink specials, and a stein-hoisting competition.

The useful part of this very specific afternoon is that its proceeds benefit Hand in Paw. The Birmingham nonprofit says its professionally trained volunteer handler-and-animal teams support people through animal-assisted therapy in medical centers, schools, and human-service organizations across North Central Alabama and Tuscaloosa.

It is a pleasingly complete program: spectators can cheer a race engineered for dogs with maximum length and minimum clearance, then turn their attention to a contest built around holding a stein aloft. The event calendar supplies the important details and the host’s registration page confirms the Wiener Dog Race sign-up.

The details

• When: Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, noon–5 p.m.
• Where: On Tap Liberty Park
• On the program: Pups on the Patio, a wiener-dog race, food and drink specials, and a stein-hoisting competition.
• Beneficiary: Hand in Paw.

Tonight around the FunnyNews network

• Hilarious.news: “A Missouri Prairie Day Has a Buffalo Creek Incident Scheduled. It’s the Band.”
• Smile.news: “At Indiana Dunes, an art class makes room for a speedy little lizard”
• WeirdNews.org: “At Wupatki, the Ground Sometimes Seems to Breathe”
• FunnyNews.lol: “The Popcorn Director” — a fictional comic-strip satire.

Sources

• Hand in Paw: Upcoming Events
• Hand in Paw: Mission & Story
• On Tap Sports Café: Dog Race registration

A practical skill gets its moment

Wichita’s joint Kansas Water Environment Association and Kansas Section American Water Works Association conference has an especially lively item on its September 10 program: the Meter Challenge. The organizers describe it as a fast-paced contest in which participants assemble a specified water meter from a bucket of parts. It is a marvelous reminder that useful know-how can make for a wonderfully watchable little showdown.

The three-day conference runs September 9–11 in Wichita. Its official events listing also schedules a fastest saw-cutting competition and a Backhoe Rodeo for Thursday, giving the day a full menu of hands-on, colleague-powered contests. The conference FAQ lists the Meter Challenge among competitions that can count toward continuing-education credit, putting a satisfying professional purpose alongside the friendly applause.

There is something joyful about a room of people who know exactly why every fitting matters, then make the careful work a shared event. A bucket of brass and black components may look ordinary at first glance; in the right hands, it becomes a small stage for speed, precision, and teamwork.

Quick smiles from today’s network

• Hilarious News: A Salmon Hatchery Is Marking 125 Years With Migration Mini Golf — a celebratory course gives visitors a playful way to follow a salmon journey.
• Smile News: A New Hampshire Park Invites Everyone to Make Art Together — an open invitation to create makes an art-filled day feel especially welcoming.
• Weird News: Why New Zealand’s Moeraki Boulders Look Like Giant Stone Marbles — a curious coastal landscape offers a grand-scale dose of wonder.
• FunnyNews.lol: Morning Buns Welcomes Its Chief Roll Officer — a clearly labeled fictional comic celebrates a bakery dachshund’s very important new title.

Sources

• KWEA and KsAWWA Water and Wastewater Conference — official conference dates and Wichita location.
• KWEA and KsAWWA entertainment and fundraising events — September 10 competition listings, including Meter Challenge, fastest saw cutting, and Backhoe Rodeo.
• KWEA and KsAWWA Operations Challenge — official description of the fastest saw-cutting event.
• KWEA and KsAWWA conference FAQ — Meter Challenge listed among competitions eligible for continuing-education credit.

At Mammoth Cave National Park, Saturday has an unusually small guest of honor: the bat. The park’s annual Bat Day lands on September 5 with presentations, hands-on activities, face painting, crafts, and a 7–9 p.m. live research demonstration near the Historic Entrance.

The lineup begins at 10 a.m. and includes a talk by bat conservationist Dr. Merlin Tuttle, followed by sessions on bat research, movement, and the species that call the park home. From 1–3 p.m., the visitor center hosts wing-biomechanics activities, face painting, and “bats and crafts.” The evening program invites visitors to watch trained researchers collect field data and share their methods.

The result feels delightfully specific: a full public day for a creature that already owns the night shift. Mammoth Cave lists 13 confirmed bat species in the park, giving the celebration plenty of local stars.

Bat Day activities are free, and the park welcomes visitors at its outdoor amphitheater and visitor center. The Mammoth Cave Bat Day schedule and the park’s event listing provide locations and program times. Bat Conservation and Management, a Bat Day participant, also lists the public program and its evening viewing session.

July 28, 2026 edition

Des Moines Gives the Pregame Parade to the Dogs Tonight

Tonight, the Animal Rescue League of Iowa is taking the phrase “take me out to the ball game” very literally. Its Dog Days of Summer event at Principal Park invites people and their leashed dogs to the Iowa Cubs game, with a pregame dog parade, a raffle stop, and dog ice cream on the menu.

The ARL lists gates at 5:38 p.m. CDT, the parade at 5:45 p.m., and first pitch at 6:38 p.m. The organization says the $16 ticket includes admission for one person and one dog, a bandana, and the parade opportunity. The event listing says proceeds from tickets sold through the ARL support pets in need.

There are rules, because even the most charming pregame procession needs them: dogs must be leashed and under their owners’ control, and the ARL asks owners to complete a waiver and ensure vaccinations are current.

Small brief: tonight’s network desk

The sanitized nightly network manifest contains no public URLs for the other completed items, so this edition adds no cross-network links rather than pointing readers to unpublished work. The FunnyNews.lol item is a comic-strip satire and is not treated as factual reporting.

Sources

• Animal Rescue League of Iowa: Dog Days of Summer at Iowa Cubs
• West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce event listing