Bronson girl wins trip to FanFest

Kaydra Woods holds up her picture of Sluggerrr, which won her and her family a trip to Major League Baseball's FanFest in Kansas City next week.(Submitted Photo)

With her artistic talents, 8-year-old Kaydra Woods of Bronson won the All-Star Blue Crew Coloring Contest, sponsored by the Kansas City Royals.

As one of five winners, Kaydra will participate in a clinic with Royals outfielder Alex Gordon at Major League Baseball's All-Star FanFest on July 9. MLB FanFest will be held at Bartle Hall in downtown Kansas City from July 6-10.

After checking into the "special guest entrance" outside FanFest, Kaydra will report to the diamond inside at 1 p.m. The clinic starts at 1:30 p.m.

A closer view of Kaydra Woods' drawing of Sluggerrr. She and her dad, Chris, are big Royals fans. The whole family will be attending FanFest during All-Star Week in Kansas City where Kaydra will get a chance to meet -- and work with -- Royals outfielder and leadoff hitter Alex Gordon. (Submitted Illustration)

The Woods were notified by email that Kaydra was a winner. As part of the package, Kaydra received four tickets to FanFest, valued at an estimated $1,060.

"We saw her coloring page and we both thought when we saw it she could win, because it was really awesome. When we got the email we were screaming like we'd won the lottery," her mom Lael Woods said.

Her father, Chris Woods, said his daughter had a big smile on her face when she read the email that she'd won.

"It was really awesome," Kaydra said. "I was really excited."

To participate in the contest, youngsters had to be 2012 Royals Blue Crew members, download and print out the Sluggerrr image, color it as they saw fit and turn their picture in during any home game to guest services at Kauffman Stadium or submit it by mail.

The whole Woods family -- including her parents and 2-year-old sister Makiah -- will be making the trip.

"They'll have little batting cages. They'll have a spot where they can test their speed running the bases," Chris Woods said, adding they'll be on a mini baseball field.

Having participated in the Nevada Griffons baseball camp where youngsters are taught the basics of the game by kids closer to their own age and attending many Royals games, plus the team's own FanFest, Kaydra has grown into quite a baseball fan. "I enjoy learning baseball," she said. "I actually enjoy the whole thing -- batting, catching stuff like that. Another thing about it is that my daddy (is) a baseball coach, so my dad's a big fan, too."

Woods is an art teacher and baseball coach at Uniontown High School.

Her favorite players, according to her dad, are Alex Gordon and Billy Butler.

This is the third coloring contest the West Bourbon Elementary third-grader-to-be has aced, her mom said. The other two were conducted by Union State Bank and Pizza Hut.