Community Corner
Park District Makes Some Noise With ‘Big Trucks’
The 12th annual event took place at Beese Park.
There was a whole lot of beeping going on Saturday in Barrington. And it had nothing to do with the increased traffic in town for Sidewalk Days, nor the road closure on Hillside Avenue.
The sounds of truck horns blaring came from Ron Beese Park, where the Barrington Park District held its 12th annual “Big Trucks.” The park district, with support from the Village of Barrington, stages this family event to allow kids the opportunity to climb aboard and explore various large vehicles – everything from a fire truck and an 18-wheeler to a garbage truck and a tractor.
“It’s a pretty laid back, fun event,” said park district recreation supervisor Kim Sweeney, who helped organize the event for the seventh time. “It’s been so popular. We’ve made it a little bigger each year. We had 20 confirmed trucks this year, including our park district vehicles.”
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Among the companies offering up their trucks for the event in addition to the the park district: the Village of Barrington, the Barrington Fire Department, Barrington Transportation Co., Groot, 1-800-Got-Junk, A.T.S. Professional Truck Driving School, and Wauconda-based Mike’s Towing.
“We got the idea from … Woodstock and Crystal Lake open just their village vehicles,” Sweeney said. “We’re like, ‘How about we make it a little bigger.’ We now have a live band for two hours. We added a fire truck inflatable slide two years ago, and the Big Wheel races, which are a lot of fun. So you get a lot for $2.”
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A first-time addition to the truck lineup this year was Game It Up, which supplied its mobile video gaming trailer. Pulled by a large pickup truck, the trailer houses four gaming stations outfitted with 55-inch LCD televisions and room for 16 players. Available for rent for parties and events, the trailer offers Xbox, PlayStation 3 and Wii games. Owner Chris Roberts, who launched Game It Up in early 2010, is an unemployed psychologist. “It’s not a living yet,” he said of the business. “[But] we booked six parties in the last two days.”
The Juke Box Band supplied the live music, playing sing-alongs and taking requests.
“We usually have about a thousand people for just a three-hour event,” Sweeney said. “There’s no rush. The kids can go on the trucks numerous times if they want to.”
Beautiful weather helped turnout this year.
“I crossed my fingers for this nice weather,” Sweeney said. “It’s been terrible. There was no chance of rain today. It’s a good temperature for kids.”
