MARGATE – The city added another fabulous hands-on event to its lineup of community events designed to engage children and families in becoming familiar with the daily workings of municipal government.
The city’s Public Works Department hosted its first-ever open house with a Touch a Truck event Wednesday at the Public Works garage on Benson Avenue.
From the look of things, the parents, especially the dads, enjoyed it as much as the children.
“This is our first time doing this,” Public Works Director Pat Power said. “This is my first year as Public Works director and I asked Mayor Michael Collins, who is also serving his first year, if he would support the event. He thought it was a great idea.”
Power said the Touch A Truck event gave the department the opportunity to show off 15 of its best machines, some of which are used to maintain the beach. The heavy equipment, cleaned and polished by city workers, lined Benson Avenue. The Fire Department also brought out its brand new firetruck, which is still being equipped and has yet to be put into service.
A member of the Public Works Department was nearby explaining to a child how the driver uses a surf rake to pick up debris on the beach.
“We want to show them what we do,” Power said. “We do more than just trash.”
Children got to climb aboard the real-life versions of their Tonka toys. Dads lifted the children into the cabs high above the big wheels of earth movers, front-end loaders, backhoes and the brand new $238,000 street sweeper.
Power said the department has two, full-time drivers who operate the street sweeper after trash is picked up. There are no women on the Public Works team at this time, Power said, but he is hoping to have one on board soon.
The city tore down the old Public Works building at the end of the block and hopes to have a new building with both male and female facilities built in the near future. Collins said the city is planning the financing for the project.
Resident Dawn Flynn brought her 2-year-old grandson, Thomas Patrick Flynn IV, to the event.
“He sees the big machines on the beach and around town,” she said. “We brought him so he can get inside them and check out the other machines. He really loves trucks - fire trucks, trash trucks, you name it.”
The event included information booths sharing information about recycling and water protection services. Tours of the water tower were offered, and children got a hayride – without the hay – around the facility. The Margate Dairy Bar and Burger donated water ice to cool everyone down and slices of pizza, bags of chips and bottles of water were available to all.
Hundreds of people attended the inaugural event, which is sure to e repeated again next year.
Margate Public Works held its first-ever open house Wednesday, July 25 at the Public Works Garage on Benson Avenue. Hundreds of children and their families attended the Touch A Truck event.
“We are grateful for this strong turnout,” Power said.
Collins said he was delighted to see another great event added to the city’s lineup of summertime fun, which includes the annual Fire Department Open House and Police Department Open House.
“Public Works has so much to offer, and their work is so underrated,” Collins said. “This gives us an opportunity to show all the great things the department does. They keep the city clean, show up whenever we need them, and keep our water system going.”
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