TEXARKANA, Texas (KTAL/KMSS) – Spring Lake Park was the place to be Thursday morning as the Texarkana Parks and Recreation hosted its 26^th annual fishing derby for special needs, kids.

“The main point of this is to let the kids come out with the teachers and the staff and enjoy the park, fish, play some games, have lunch on us and just enjoy their day,” said Texarkana Parks & Recreation Director Robby Robertson.

Robertson says they stocked a section of the lake with almost a thousand fish for the kids to catch.

“This is one of our favorite events, just because the fact that so many kids from different school districts are coming out here and enjoying the park we can see the smile on their faces, you can tell that they’re really having a good day,” said Robertson.

This year over 300 students from 17 Bowie County schools were invited to participate in the two-day event.

The event was made possible by several volunteers and local emergency responders.