Originally published May 11, 2007:

No more mud will be flung. No longer will goo-covered kids slip, slide and wallow around Jefferson Barracks Park.

A St. Louis tradition for more than two decades, Mighty Mud Mania has ended.

Park officials decided to end the summer mud-fest after hundreds of children came down with rashes after the two-day event last year.

The event had become a summer fixture in late July. It started as a field trip for day campers and grew to allow open access. Last year, 5,184 children attended.

Over the week following Mud Mania, parents flooded the St. Louis County Health Department with calls that their children had red rashes all over their bodies. The Health Department recorded 466 cases of folliculitis, an infection of the hair follicles. All of the children had attended Mighty Mud Mania.

The rashes usually cleared up within a day or two, but for some children, they lasted a week or more. The reason that 9 percent of kids who attended the annual wallow got infected but the majority didn't may depend upon how muddy children got, said Mike Williams, director of the communicable diseases division of the St. Louis County Health Department.

"Some kids got down and dirty and wallowed around, while some kids, I'm told, tiptoed around," he said.

County officials last year tried to uncover the source of the problem. County Spokesman Mac Scott said the attempt proved unsuccessful, mainly because the bacterium is found in almost all dirt.

Scott said the problem last year occurred when the right set of circumstances, such as temperature and water, were met. He said officials do not know why this was never a problem before.

Though bacteria had not been an issue during the event's history, county officials decided not to take a chance on Mud Mania again.

"We just didn't feel that it would be prudent to stage the event," said Peter Dunn, program services manager for the St. Louis County Parks Department. "We don't think there is any way to treat the soil, so rather than take a chance, we just decided to discontinue the event."

Cindy Berry, who took her daughter Nicole to Mud Mania last year, said the county made the right decision. Her daughter, now 7, developed a rash that lasted for days.

"She was covered from her front to her back and down her legs," Berry said.

She said if the county can't figure out how to prevent the rash, then canceling the event is the best move.

"I probably wouldn't take my kids back again," Berry said. "I'm sorry they had to cancel it, but I'm glad no one else will get the rash."

The county will replace Mighty Mud Mania with a one-day field trip at Queeny Park for day camps. If the event goes well, it may expand later to include children not in day camps.

In the new event, called Amazing Kid Capers, there will be activities such as tug-of-war, obstacle courses, treasure hunts and water games, Dunn said.

But no mud.

Greg Jonsson of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.