COVINGTON, Ky. - An estimated 1,100 people converged on the Latonia Shopping Center early Saturday afternoon for the City of Covington’s first “Touch a Truck” event.
The star of the show were the trucks - all the vehicles used by public service agencies in the City (and those which respond to the City) to keep Covington residents safe and infrastructure properly maintained.
Residents of all ages came to climb on, in and around vehicles of all shapes, sizes, and functions - LOTS of vehicles - from fire trucks to dump trucks, front loaders to helicopters, and police cruisers to tow trucks, not to mention motorcycles, quad-runners and a rescue boat.
“Looks like we’re going to have to do this again next year,” Covington City Manager David Johnston said, looking at the huge crowd.
Johnston said it was especially satisfying to see City workers - police officers, firefighters, Public Works operators, Devou Park Rangers and others - so deeply involved answering questions from residents and explaining the vehicles’ features and what they’re designed to do.
“No doubt, our guests who came through had a great time,” said David Kennedy, firefighter/Fire Prevention Educator for Covington, who led the coordination of the large event.
The crowd watched a vehicle extrication demonstration (i.e. a wrecked car sawed and pried open to rescue its trapped occupants) and got an unplanned treat when one of the rescue helicopters had to take off mid-event to respond to an emergency.
“We had no idea the crowd was going to be so big, so we unfortunately ran out of hot dogs right away,” Johnston said. “But we’ll fix that next year.”
Not counting the many Covington departments, partners for the event included Kenton County Sheriff, Kenton County Police, Kentucky State Police, St. Elizabeth Healthcare, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, UC Air Care, Air Evac, Jess & Sons Towing, Kona Ice, CVG Fire, Rumpke Waste & Recycling, and the Northern Kentucky Health Department.
To see a photograph album of the event, click HERE.
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