Hopefully no one intends to get ill, ride the number 11 TANK
bus, or burn their house down between the hours of noon and three on Saturday
September 15, because all of those trucks will be busy with being touched by my
son. That’s right readers, it is
time for the annual Touch-a-Truck held in front of the Community Center at Tower
Park in Fort Thomas.
           Last
year’s event was totally unsuccessful; not for the organizers, for my son. The sounds and lights really scared him
but this year I am sure he will love it.Â
If you have never been, it is a really neat event for younger children
and is completely free. It is
exactly as it sounds: a number of trucks all of which are available to be
touched. Kids can also get in the
driver’s seat of most of them and operate their siren or horn.Â
           They
usually have a fire truck, police car, ambulance, army truck, cement mixer,
bulldozer, bucket truck, excavator, and last year they had a rescue boat. All of these are available for the kids
to get inside.
           The
incessant sirens is the only downside, really. Every child, of course, wants to operate the siren and with
hundreds of attendees there is never a quiet second. This is what intimidated Knox last year so the event was not
quite as fun for him. He enjoyed
looking at them from afar but not necessarily touching or turning on the
sirens. So, might I suggest, if
your child is two or younger, it may be a bit early. For the over three through about ten crowd, this is a really
fun way to get up close and personal with some of the trucks and machines that
they see every day.
           Thanks
to the generosity of area companies for lending their trucks and the
organization of the Fort Thomas Recreation Department, this year is sure to be
yet another fun, free, and family-friendly event.