PLANNING
The seeds for this year’s Touch A Truck were planted at the end of last year’s event. A little tweaking here, a little more forward planning there. Club members Bob Carris, Bill Friske, and Claude Kendrick along with Churchill HS Interact President and Event Chair, Ivanna Brigido Torres, and a host of Interact students began meeting in early summer to begin laying out the plans for vehicle placement on the grounds, promotion, and all the little details that need to be addressed to make our event a successful one.
WHAT IS TOUCH A TRUCK
Some might say Touch A Truck is a place where kids and adults alike can sit in vehicles that they may not ever get the opportunity to sit in; Race cars, helicopters, fire engines, huge excavation trucks, to name a few. We had over 50 vehicles to choose from. But I think the genius of Touch A Truck is that it ignites a spark in the young attendee's sense of wonder, awe, and imagination. They are not just sitting in a rescue vehicle; they imagine they are on a run to save someone’s life. That little girl sitting in a race car, when she shuts her eyes to go to sleep that night, she can imagine being in a stock car race. After many deft and challenging driving moves, she sees herself being applauded for winning the race. Those boys and girls leave Touch A Truck with their craving for wonder and awe fulfilled and their imagination opened. And if you think it was only the children who were taken in by the sense of wonder you would be mistaken. I saw Bob Carris’s inner child come to the surface when the first helicopter landed. A FEW QUOTES
As I was bidding a few people a thank you for attending, one adult, Linda Fischer said “This was awesome!” After thanking a little girl for attending she told me, “This was the best day of my life!” With that being said, and all the smiling faces I noticed, to all of the over 100 Interact, Rotary AM , Local celebrities, and Amazon employees manning the hot wheel and coloring book tent, I say to you all, “Mission Accomplished!”
-Mike Ladwig
.png){kind=logo}