 | | | Lafayette residents enjoy a bevy of big trucks. Photo Vera Kochan | | | | | | Seeing trucks up close and personal has recently become a national craze. Places like Las Vegas, Nevada; Jackson, Mississippi; Lafayette, Louisiana; North Haven, Connecticut; and the state of Hawaii have all boasted truck-touching events in recent months.
Closer to home, Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Jose, and Oakland are some of the California cities that have jumped on the bandwagon. And, not to be outdone, Lamorinda has given its residents the opportunity to not only "Touch a Truck", as the event is more commonly known, but permission to sit inside some of the behemoths and honk their horns loud enough to blast the clouds out of the sky.
Orinda was the first in our tri-city area to host such an event on April 13. The Rotary Club of Lafayette held "Keep on Truckin'" April 27, with admission sales that benefited Shelter, Inc., a local nonprofit dedicated to helping homeless and hungry families.
"The event was a tremendous success with an estimated 1,000 attendees, mostly families with young children ages 3-8," stated Rotary Co-Chairman Buddy Brodwin. "Everyone was so nice, excited, and grateful for perfect weather and a truly fun event. I suspect Rotary will make this a yearly event. We think Shelter, Inc. will be more than pleased at our donation to them, as well! For our first time out, I'd say we hit a home run!"
Expert Tree Services lifted gigantic tree stumps, Golden Gate Palms hoisted a potted palm tree, and Forge Handcrafted Pizza served up pizzas prepared on-the-spot inside their converted 1971 Winkleman, Arizona fire truck - examples of the large array of vehicles showing off for appreciative attendees.
Moraga's Parks and Recreation Department hosted their free Touch a Truck's May 4 event, despite the inclement weather, at Commons Park. "It's still something that you could do in the rain," said Recreation Supervisor Jasmine Bateson. "We reached out to community partners such as the Moraga Police Department, Moraga-Orinda Fire District, Republic Services, and Central San. The private enterprises like Tesla reached out to us."
Despite the rain, Moragans big and small were excited to see the first responder vehicles' lights flashing. Cheers could be heard when Republic Services hoisted imaginary trash cans. Central San brought three vehicles, one of which was a Hydro/Flush Vactor sewer cleaner. Tesla's bullet proof Cybertruck was a big hit with adults.
Taking note of the weatherproofed little tikes enjoying the moment, Moraga Mayor Teresa Onoda observed, "Kids need to get out at every opportunity."
It could almost be said that if you honk it, they will come. |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA