As a hand reaches from one generation to another, the SCV Senior Center will bring its Touch-a-Truck event back for families far and wide at Central Park on Oct. 13.
“Our first event was held five years ago, and that was very popular,” said Mayor Pro Tem Marsha McLean, who will serve as the event chair.
The event brings out several trucks and other vehicles for children and adults to observe, touch and sit in. This includes a California Highway Patrol car, a fire engine, construction rigs, ambulances, various military vehicles or vehicles from the film industry. Also planned is a beachball dump from a dump truck, which was called a favorite in a post from the Senior Center’s Facebook page.
Discussions are still being had as to some of the other specific vehicles that will be present, but McLean said the Shakey Quakey house vehicle, which simulates earthquakes, and a bulldozer from the Los Angeles County Fire Department will also be present.
McLean described Touch-a-Truck as having a purpose for its younger attendants, that it’s “intergenerational between younger and older generations.” Kevin MacDonald, executive director of the Senior Center, said the center hopes all children and families who go will have a lot of fun around vehicles old and new.
While the event was originally planned to happen in June, the high temperatures pushed the date back, McLean said. The Senior Center has traditionally held Touch-a-Truck before Father’s Day over its first five years. Now that it is set in early October, the hope is that temperatures will be cooler, McLean said.
Along with trucks, the event will offer face painting, balloon animals and an obstacle course for children’s entertainment. Appearances from the Placerita Nature Center and Smokey the Bear are also to be expected, according to a post from the Senior Center’s Facebook page.
Admission will cost guests $5 per person and is free for children under 2 years old. Proceeds will go toward the Senior Center and its different services and programs, MacDonald said.
Food and treats will also be provided. As this will be an outside event, the Senior Center recommends visitors bring sunscreen and water with them. The event will open at 9 a.m. and will wrap up at 1 p.m.
To purchase tickets, stop by myscvcoa.org/touch-a-truck/.
