DeKALB | Children and adults were able to get up close and personal with tractors and other vehicles at the annual Touch a Truck-Touch a Tractor event in Hopkins Park Thursday.

The Park District displayed a large variety of vehicles during the event. Children were allowed to sit in the driver seats, admire the controls and climb on the truck beds.

Mark Espy, director of street operations for DeKalb, donates the trucks and equipment to be used during the event.

“Last year we took a four wheel tractor and an aerial truck,” Espy said.

Other previous equipment donated by DeKalb include back hoes, dump trucks and cherry pickers.

Tractor Truck was started five years ago by Colleen Belmont, DeKalb Park Districts program director.

“My department had a goal to increase community programming at a low or no cost level for family events,” Belmont said.

Belmont herself came from a farm upbringing. Seeing a truck or tractor for her just made her think about hard work.

“After thinking about it from a different angle though, I started to realize that an urban child and many rural children would find different tractors and trucks amazing,” Belmont said. “Passing these vehicles on the road, seeing them in the fields or working on a development do not give people the perspective of size, mass, or idea of how powerful and cool they really are.”

The trucks are turned off while children explore them, and placed in safe positions.