Elburn kids get behind wheel
Two-year-old Jack McKittrick sat behind the wheel of an Elburn and Countryside Fire Protection District vehicle Sunday.
Fortunately, it wasn't moving.
"I'm in an ambulance!" he screamed out the window to his parents.
McKittrick took part in the 11th Annual Day in the Park at Lions Park in Elburn Sunday.
As part of the daylong festivities, the Elburn fire department, along with Elburn tractor dealers and the city streets department, participated in the "Touch-a-Truck" program. Other attractions included live music, carnival games, a volleyball tournament which drew nine teams, and fireworks at the end of the night.
The Elburn Chamber of Commerce made the event last all day and night for the second year and included the "Touch-a-Truck" program for the first year.
The new attraction allowed residents to get close to vehicles they usually only see on the street or in fields.
Jack's parents, Marcia and Kyle, a lifelong Elburn resident, took him to the event because of his affinity for trucks.
"He really likes trucks so we brought him down here," Marcia McKittrick said. "He's really enjoying it."
Firefighter and paramedic Greg Algrim stood watch over the kids and parents who climbed up on the ambulance and fire truck. He said community-oriented events like Day in the Park help them connect on a more personal level with local residents.
"We love watching the kids get in," said Algrim, who has worked for the Elburn FPD since 2000. "That way, they don't get scared when we do go out on a call to their homes. The kids get to see us and get used to the fire truck."
Leslie Flint, the second-year chairperson of the chamber's Day in the Park committee, said the truck program benefits more than just the kids who get to climb on the tractors and trucks. Local tractor businesses get a chance to display their wares to the parents.
Flint estimated that the Day in the Park draws "a couple of thousand" people each year.
"We're trying to bring in new things every year to get people down here all day and really enjoy being down here," she said. "(Day in the Park) is just a way to come out and have a fun day."