Jessica Cuevas
If it’s the beginning of Fall, Touch-A-Truck is soon occurring! This free event is for the young and young at heart, allowing residents to interact with and learn about the vehicles that allow a community to operate. While half of the team of LEAP Ambassadors were at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, the other half stayed back and volunteered for this event.
This year, the new Main Street Director, Rebekah Kolb, added her own spin to this event by having other activities for the children to enjoy such as bouncy houses, rock wall, photo-op, and a dunking booth that allowed them to dunk many of the City of Huntsville’s respected employees, including the City Manager Aron Kulhavy.
As a former Main Street Intern, I helped at the Main Street Table in Rather Park, giving out promotional items while Michelle was able to run around downtown and release her inner child as she took photographs.
There was no shortage of vehicles in “display:” they ranged from construction…
…to police cars and SWAT, including SHSU’s newest and coolest PD Vehicle (SWAT!)…
…to fire trucks and EMS…
….monster truck….
….and many more!
Michelle had trouble picking her favorite. Ultimately, it was a three-way tie between the “huge monster truck, Huntsville PD’s Pitbull x (SWAT truck), and the Fire Trucks.” She mentioned how amazing it was to learn about all the different vehicles and their specific roles in the community. However, her favorite part was getting to see some familiar faces and important city figures such as the City of Huntsville’s Mayor; Andy Brauninger!
Although, the vehicles and big trucks are always a big HIT, the dunking booth was just as much of a big hit, especially when City Manager Kulhavy was up to be dunked. Many of the children, volunteers, and even Mayor Brauninger and Mrs. Brauninger waited much of the day to line up and dunk him! Michelle and I may have also been eagerly awaiting this opportunity…
Thank you to Rebekah, Angela, and all those who participated in making Touch-A-Truck a great event. It is always nice to see the community come together in events like these and run into lovely familiar faces.