Wednesday, August 21st 2024, 4:20 pm
A 10-foot-tall rubber duck named "Timmy" is making its way around Tulsa this week.
The bright yellow inflatable welcomed guests as they entered the Tulsa Zoo on Wednesday.
It came as a pleasant surprise to Sarah Estrada and her daughter, Emma.
"Emma is obsessed with duckies," said Estrada. "Her birthday is going to be duckie-themed, and we did not know he was going to be here today, but I am pumped."
Emma turns three years old around Labor Day weekend and Tulsa's Big Dam Party.
"We have it on our calendar already because it is actually like a few days before her birthday, so we were going to have it be a part of the celebration," Estrada added.
Timmy is helping Tulsa Regional Tourism get the word out about the event.
"I think we had a pretty good idea of what the duck would bring, but people were coming out of the woodwork right away wanting to know what is this duck?" Tim Chambers, VP of Destination Strategy and Marketing, said.
Timmy's presence is so large that zoogoers could not help but snap a picture.
His week of travels is all in search of his mom.
"Apparently, he is going to be reuniting with her at the Gathering Place for Big Dam Party," said Chambers.
Mama Duck is even bigger, standing at 61 feet tall, and will be positioned between the two stages on the QuikTrip Great Lawn for the event, which runs from August 30 to September 2nd.
"We wanted to do something fun," Chambers continued saying, "Kind of have that Disney castle moment for the event, something for people to gravitate towards."
A little out of the ordinary but just what the Estrada family needed.
"She has a rare genetic metabolic disorder," Estrada continued, saying, "She has gone through a lot, and so anything we can do to just make her life a little fuller is a blessing."
Timmy has a full schedule ahead with visits to Guthrie Green on Thursday, August 22, from 4-7 p.m., Mother Road Market on Friday, August 23, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m., and the WeStreet Ice Center on Saturday, August 24, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
For more information about the Big Dam Party, click here.
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