BIG TRUCKS BRING FUN
Event benefits Saratoga Children’s Museum
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Many families braved the scattered rain showers Saturday to attend the 11th annual Big Truck Day fundraiser event for the Saratoga Children’s Museum.
The four-hour event was held in the parking lot of Maple Avenue Middle School. Big Truck Day is one of the primary fundraisers that is held annually on the first Saturday in August for the Saratoga Children’s Museum. Proceeds from the event help the museum offer quality programs and learning opportunities for families.
The event featured more than 20 trucks of all shapes and sizes for children to tour, along with fun activities for the whole family.
As a special event this year, local author Anika Denise was on site from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to do a book signing for her book “Monster Trucks.” Northshire Bookstore also provided books for sale at the fundraiser event.
Event organizers said the museum was looking for a familyfriendly event to host and they came up with the idea to have a big truck day. A couple thousand people attend the event every year, they said.
“They were looking for a family-style event that they could utilize to bring the community out,” said Saratoga Children’s Museum Education Director David Lotto. “We have lots of different trucks here, we have a bounce house,
there’s an ice cream truck, and there are books for sale and some games for kids too.”
Families were able to sit inside many different kinds of trucks, such as fire trucks, tractor trailers, a school and a CDTA bus.
Although the fundraiser event has been going on for more than 10 years now, for some families it was their first time attending the event.
“This is actually the first year that I’ve heard of it, and I actually saw it when we were look-
ing online at the Saratoga Children’s Museum and we saw the event and we booked the tickets for it right away,” said Melissa Blanchard of Johnstown, who came to the event with her husband and their 2-year- old son. “Our son loves trucks, so we thought that he would really enjoy this, and so far he has enjoyed it here.”
“This is our first time ever here and our son just loves big trucks and so far he’s enjoying honking all of the horns,” added Courtney
Macey of Glenville, who came to the event with her husband and 2-year- old son.
Other families said they are glad the proceeds to the event go towards educational programming at the Saratoga Children’s Museum.
“We’re members of the children’s museum here, so it’s nice that this event benefits the museum,” said Jesse George of Saratoga, who brought his 5-year- old son to the event Saturday morning.