New Touch-A-Truck event was fun for all ages at fair
Oaklyn Mills, 5, of New Philadelphia likes being in the driver’s seat of the Lightning McQueen vehicle.
The popularity of the new Touch-A-Truck event at the Tuscarawas County Fair could be heard around the fairgrounds as young “drivers” leaned on the horns. The event was more than just trucks; there were tractors, mounted officers on horseback, and Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater.
“They are loving it,” Karleigh Mills of New Philadelphia said as her children Oaklyn, 5, and Joseph, 4, played in the Lightning McQueen vehicle.
Cohen Melching, 6, of Mineral City posed for a photo with Tow Mater in his first time at a Touch-A-Truck event.
Many adults got a close-up look and those as young as 20-month-old Ada Haga of Uhrichsville.
Also available were lots of treats from those exhibiting including candy, pens and frisbees.
Those participating were Jim’s Towing, which brought five trucks including Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen; the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office crime scene investigation vehicle; RJ Wright, who brought a fuel truck; Kimble, which brought a semi; Red Hill Crane; Earl Feller, who brought international trucks; Jarvis Hills Trucking; Keim Concrete Pumping; Stocker Concrete; Buehler’s delivery van; Rosenberry Towing; Southeastern Equipment; American Drilling; Go Shred; Kenworth of Canton; Link Supply; TMK Valley Propane; and ODOT, which brought a snow plow and a boom mower. There also were two pulling tractors on display, one from Colt Andreas and another from Lowe & Young Equipment.
Mounted officers with the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office attending the event were Mike Smitley, Rusty Galbraith and Dawn Galbraith. They were another favorite with the children, who wanted to pet the horses.
Two cousins, Mackinzie McCown, 6, of Sugarcreek and Willow Goss, 9, of Gilmore, loved the opportunity to get close to the horses. While Goss said she wasn’t fond of the loud horns being sounded on some of the trucks, the horses didn’t react.
“The horses don’t mind the noises. We do a lot of training to acclimate them to different noises and different situations,” Dawn Galbraith said.
The horses are desensitized to cope with a variety of noises and situations like fireworks, smoke, sirens and loud music. The horses are trained to navigate unusual terrain and maneuver through crowds.
Though it wasn’t open to the public, the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office crime scene investigation van was on display with an officer to explain its use and answer questions. The unit contains all the equipment needed to process a crime scene and even has a generator on board in case power is needed.
Bill Lawrence of Newcomerstown, the father of Jim of Jim’s Towing, came out of retirement to help at the Touch-A-Truck event.
“We had a lot of children in them. They just love going in them,” Lawrence said of the Jim’s Towing vehicles. “They’re intriguing when you get into the (large) size these are. They are mind boggling.”
The company has some large equipment available for towing.
“We’ve never had anything we couldn’t pull,” Lawrence said.
Fair officials were pleased with the new activity.
“I think the event was well received by everybody,” Tyrone Brannon said. “Everybody that brought equipment wants to come again next year, and the crowd, I think, enjoyed it. The kids were enjoying blowing their horns on some of the trucks they were crawling in and out of.”
There were many families that attended, and the Touch-A-Truck attracted some older people too.
“They said, ‘This brings back our childhood, getting to see all this stuff,’ so they enjoyed it too,” Brannon said.
Sponsors for the Touch-A-Truck event were Springvale Healthcare Centers and Omni Fiber. Sponsors of Family Day, which offered discounted admission and ride tickets on Thursday, were The First National Bank of Dennison, WTUZ 99.9 FM and BellStores.