Citizens get up close and personal with municipal equipment

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People hate seeing big pieces of city equipment on the streets. It usually means a slow commute or even worse, a construction zone, is on the agenda.

But put those backhoes, bucket trucks, and milling machines on a parking lot where people can interact with them and not fight traffic, and suddenly Kokomo has a welcome tradition.

For the fifth year, the city, with the help of the Howard County Sheriff's Office, the Indiana State Police, the U.S. Army, and a few local businesses, presented Touch a Truck on Sept. 8 in the Inventrek parking lot along South Home Avenue and East Firmin Street.

Kids and kids at heart had the opportunity to get up close and personal with many of the vehicles and pieces of equipment city employees use to keep streets safe. Whether it was the truck that paints traffic lines on the street, the Kokomo Police Department's SWAT vehicle, an ambulance, or a trolley, hundreds turned out to climb into the cab, honk a horn or two, and otherwise get a feel for what city workers do every day.

To ensure that Touch a Truck is accessible to as many people as possible, the first hour of the event is conducted in silence. No horns are sirens were allowed so that children and people with sensitivity to loud noises might enjoy the event as well.

But once that first hour elapsed, it sounded like a New York City traffic jam in the Inventrek lot.

In some cases, visitors got to do a little more than sit in the cab of a truck or gaze at a helicopter. There were demonstrations of bomb disposal robots, emergency extrication equipment, and bucket trucks that became a bit more interactive.

Look for additional photos from Touch a Truck on the Lantern's Facebook page and group.