Touch a Truck Family Festival [Photo: Denise Ritchie]

Boys and girls of all ages had a chance to toot their own horns last Saturday during Touch a Truck, hosted by the Early Learning Coalition of Indian River, Martin and Okeechobee counties at the Indian River County Fairgrounds.

The Early Learning Coalition took over hosting the annual event this year as a way to keep on truckin’ with their mission to ensure that quality early learning experiences are available to all children. The coalition assists parents, preschools and communities by providing effective building blocks so that young children can achieve educational success.

“This is such a great family event,” said Marsha Powers, Early Learning Coalition CEO. “It brings people together, but it also gives parents the opportunity to learn about a lot of other organizations we are associated with in the community that offer really wonderful services.”

“I think I’m gonna love this!” exclaimed one young truck enthusiast as he passed through the gates and took his first look at the assemblage of heavy-duty vehicles.

At times, it was a toss-up as to whether children or adults were more enthusiastic about being given an opportunity to sit in or kick the tires of the massive machines.

The first hour of the event was honk-free for those sensitive to sound, but after that all bets were off as horns tooted and sirens blared, celebrating literally tons and tons of fun. More than 40 vehicles were on hand, everything from dump trucks and fire engines to tractors and even a Coast Guard cutter.

Attendees and participants took the weather in stride as on-and-off bands of rain from Tropical Storm Nestor gave everyone and everything a thorough rinse throughout the day. But there were plenty of games, activities and food vendors to keep families engaged.

At the PNC Mobile Learning Adventure, children selected costumes for a photoshoot based on their answer to the question, ‘Who do you want to be when you grow up?’ And at the Home Depot Children’s Build Workshop, little ones hammered away on blocks of wood to construct their own trucks.

Other community partners set up shop under the pavilion to showcase a variety of programs and services available to families with young children.

Proceeds from Touch a Truck will help fund special projects throughout the year meant to improve quality early learning opportunities, primarily for children from birth to age 5. The Early Learning Coalition specializes in school readiness and volunteer pre-kindergarten programming.

For more information, visit elcirmo.org.