Health & Fitness
Ridgewood Touch-a-Truck Day: It Takes a Village!
Ridgewood's Touch-a-Truck Day provided more than 600 local children with an opportunity to learn about the services provided by our Village and the dedicated front-line people who deliver them.
Ridgewood’s 2013 Touch-a-Truck Day provided more than 600 local children, along with their parents and teachers, with an opportunity to learn first-hand about the services provided by our Village government and the dedicated front-line people who deliver them each and every day. [CLICK HERE for a video of the day’s activities.]
What’s more, the children were provided with hands-on opportunities to discover for themselves a range of critical skills, including fire safety, how to respond to an emergency, what to expect if they ever find themselves in need of an ambulance, as well as pedestrian safety, the last as they navigated kiddie carts through a Safetytown riding course co-sponsored by the Ridgewood Police Department and Ridgewood’s Little Ivy Learning Center, which included signs and a working traffic signal provided the Village’s Signal Division, and Junior Driver’s Licenses donated by Ridgewood Press.
As an added bonus, this year’s Touch-a-Truck also featured a special, truck-themed Storytime in the Park, hosted by the Children’s Department of the Ridgewood Public Library.
Delivering these important lessons at last Thursday’s Touch-a-Truck Day to an audience of 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-year old children takes a thoughtful approach, great patience, good humor. . .as well as plenty of interesting equipment to explore. All were on display throughout the day, delivered by professionals from the Village Public Works Department, Fire Department, Emergency Services Department, Police Department, & Public Library, each of whom provided a great community service to our young people and their families (we hope we did not leave anyone out).
Thanks to each of you for enriching the lives of our children and their families!
An event such as Ridgewood’s Touch-a-Truck Day also takes a great deal of advance planning and coordination to be a success. From Little Ivy’s position as volunteer coordinator, we witnessed the thoughtful commitment and attention to detail of Village government department leaders and staff, the Village Manager, and the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce--- the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce and Village of Ridgewood government are co-sponsors of Ridgewood Touch-a-Truck Day. Thanks to each of you for your efforts in serving our Village!
All the remains to be said is a thank-you to all who attended, including several Ridgewood preschools and child-care centers who attended as class field trips. . . and that we look forward to seeing you next spring at Ridgewood Touch-a-Truck Day!
