Kids Climb Big Rigs on Truck Day

Where can a kid go to climb a truck that holds 150 gallons of fuel, 20,000 pounds of torque, has eighteen speeds, 600 horsepower and has traveled 30,000 miles?

A church parking lot may not be your first guess, but as the site of the 5th Annual Truck Day sponsored by the the area was wall-to-wall wheels, with oversized vehicles--big rigs, excavators, bulldozers and more--taking center stage.

About 200 people flowed through the lot at the Bedford Presbyterian Church on Saturday to admire, climb in, learn about and even ride the 12 vehicles showcased this year. The trucks arrived from as close as the firehouse next door to as far away as Kingston, NY.

Visitors mounted machines including a police car, a race car from Grand Prix in Mount Kisco, a HMMWV 98 military truck, an ice cream truck, a hot dog cart, as well as several construction vehicles.

Cory Fancher of Fancher Inc. in Bedford was on hand with his excavator and bull dozer. The excavator, which was the largest truck at the show, is used for residential excavation and transportation, and it thrilled children who climbed up into the cab and sat on its flat beds.

"It it takes a half a day to move his excavator into the church lot, and another half a day to get it out, but I've been bringing it here since truck day started five years ago," said Fancher.

Another popular vehicle was the HMMWV 98 which belongs to the Army Engineer Corp 1156 in Kingston, NY. Boys and girls squealed in delight as they were given a ride around the parking lot by a uniformed PFC Andrews and SPC Mosiej. "The truck is used for training purposes in the Army Engineer Corp," explained PFC Andrews. "It is used as part of a construction unit and for search and rescue."

Guests who stepped into the EMT van with Officer John Evans got a lesson in some of the high-tech surveillance available to the police. Pointing to a color computer screen Evans explained, "I can use the computer to punch in the license plate of a car and get all the DMV information needed on the vehicle in question."

But the younger kids were were less interested in the mechanics of the machines, and pretended to operate the equipment themselves.

"I liked climbing on the trucks and the bulldozer was my favorite because it was the biggest," said seven-year-old David Sander.

There was no cost to attend the event, and children walked away with stickers that read, "I've been to truck day." There were tee shirts for sale, as well as a raffle to win a toy truck donated by Learning Express in Bedford. Proceeds from these go to the library.

The event was planned by librarians Shodie Alcorn and Ann Cloonan, as well as patrons Julie Williams and Liz DeFilippo. "Truck Day is a give back to the community from the library," said children's librarian Shodie Alcorn. "We help plan it, the church donates the space, and local people participate by bringing vehicles from their personal collections or businesses."