Blue cupcakes were not enough, apparently - but a blue bodysuit? That was another matter entirely.
The 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment won this year's $150 prize for best attendance at Friday's Jackson Jubilee/Directorate of Emergency Services Night Out.
But Moncrief Army Community Hospital's Family Readiness Group stymied a repeat two-fer by the 193rd Infantry Brigade by heroically stealing away the Brigade FRG Creative Display trophy.
At the MACH booth, an array of superheroes handed out tiny kits containing alcohol wipes and bandages, leaving the 3-60th's cupcakes in the proverbial dust.
The cupcakes -- with swirls of blue icing and packaged in individual plastic containers -- were perhaps the most strikingly presented food items, but the event also offered sundaes, candy, popcorn and bananas from the 65 organizations attending. (The Blue Cross/Blue Shield of South Carolina display offered toothpaste to keep cavities at bay.)
Outside the Solomon Center, dogs were the hit of the afternoon -- K-9s from the Richland Country Sheriff's Office and the 208th Military Working Dog Detachment on Fort Jackson.
Again and again, the dogs of the 208th bounded after a flailing bad guy, to the delight of a crowd standing behind barricades.
"You'll see what happens if you take off running (when a K-9 officer stops you)," promised emcee Staff Sgt. Trenton Miller. "It will not be good.
"Dogs do not have opposable thumbs, so they use their mouth(cq) to hold on to a person."
Although attendees comprised a veritable who's who of Fort Jackson commanders, the event stirred the most enjoyment in the children attending.
From face-painting to the bouncy house, children led their parents from display to display to see what the afternoon had to offer inside and out.
Nine hundred people attended the event, according to Marilynn Bailey, volunteer coordinator for Army Community Service.
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