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the Lockport Legend | June 14, 2018 | 3
Annual Touch A Truck showcases variety of vehicles
Mary Compton
Freelance Reporter
With air horns blowing, the
2018 Touch A Truck event
at Dellwood Park opened
up with a little rain. That
didn’t stop several area children
from jumping into the
most popular attraction at the
event— the foam pit.
Brett Heintz, who brought
his son Danzig, was thrilled
to be at the community event.
“This gets better every
year,” Heintz said. “The addition
of the foam pit is a big
hit, he really loves the foam
pit, it’s a huge draw. We come
here every year. This is a nice
free event. He gets to sit in
a lot of different trucks. He
gets exposed to the different
trucks relating to the various
jobs at this event. His favorites
today, he liked the SWAT
truck, looking out through
the small windows. He loved
the fire trucks, sitting in them
pretending he was driving
and honking the horn was the
highlight of his day.”
From a Pace bus to a concrete
mixer truck from Ozinga
to the Zombie bus outside
of the Legacy Adventure
Park, children honked all
kinds of horns, touched the
trucks and turned on flashing
lights.
Maryellen Reed, Bookmobile
manager for the Homer
Township Public Library,
was happy to be at the event.
“This is always a big event,
we’ve participated for 13
years,” Reed said. “Already
we’ve had about 250 people
stop by the Bookmobile.
Lockport does a wonderful
job with this event, there’s
always a lot of participants.
They try and do something
new every year. A few years
ago they had a helicopter
land.”
As she passed out doggie
erasers, she explained that
her goal is to get children to
read books.
“I’m here to promote the
summer reading program
starting on Monday [June
11],” she said. “It’s so important
for the kids. Our
library hosts the summer
reading program from June
11 through July 23. If you
haven’t signed up, stop by
the library and start reading.”
Besides trucks, there was a
hula hoop contest along with
the foam pit.
Sarah Aspel, recreation
supervisor for the Lockport
Township Park Dsitrict, said
this is one of her favorite
events to hold.
“This is a big event that
kicks off our summer” Aspel
said. “We do this event rain
or shine as long as there is no
lightning. Despite the rain, all
of the vehicles showed up, as
well as the people. We have
the SWAT team truck as well
as some cool painted tow
trucks from Jonny’s Towing.
We also have the zombie
bus from Statesville, as well,
which is very popular. Fire
trucks are always a kid’s favorite.”
Before walking in the truck
area, groups of children enjoyed
being in the middle of
a bubble foam bath.
“Last year, we introduced
the foam machine,” Aspel
said. “That is the most popular
attraction, it’s where all
the kids are. Every time I pass
by, there’s at least 20 kids
playing in that foam. We do
have a few new vendors. This
is a great community event,
it’s a perfect one for families.
We have babies to teenagers
coming out. They enjoy exploring
the different vehicles
and getting to go inside. If
you haven’t been to Dellwood
Park, come out and see
what events we have here.”
To find out what events are
coming up, visit www.lock
portpark.org.
Danzig Heintz, 4, explores the foam created by a foam machine Friday, June 8, during the Touch A Truck event held at
Dellwood Park. Photos by Mary Compton/22nd Century Media
Karen Powers pulls her 15-month-old grandchild, Sean Powers, during the Touch A Truck event.