'Touch-a-Truck' Event Comes to Parsippany Saturday

The Parsippany Kiwanis Club, along with local officials and the family of a late Board of Education member, will host an all ages, “Touch-a-Truck” event at the “Octagon” between and on Route 10 Saturday.

The event was the brainchild of late Board of Education member Alan Gordon, who died last summer. His immediate family will attend the event, along with Mayor James Barberio, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m.

Parsippany resident and event chairman Tom Wyka said the event is meant to be fun and unifying for the community, much like the Parsippany street fair was in years past.

“Alan got the idea from Madison, as the Kiwanis club was trying to look into new types of fundraisers,” Wyka said. “We were looking for something that would be a great community event as the street fair had been in the past.”

Wyka was encouraged to see the simplicity of the event after attending a similar one in Roxbury that Gordon had invited him to just days before his passing.

“I was set to chair the event from the start. Alan had invited me to go to Roxbury to see another event by the Randolph Rotary just a few days before he passed away,” Wyka said. “Although he never made it there, I was able to bring my kids there this year and it was a great inspiration on what a simple event it is, with great potential.”

Kids will be able to get up close with a variety of vehicles including fire trucks, ambulances, military vehicles and municipal utility vehicles. There will also be face-painting, music and refreshments, and all activities will run from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Wyka said the mission of the event is to help fund various Kiwanis charitable initiatives, including the "Eliminate Project" of Kiwanis International, which seeks to eradicate maternal and neonatal tetanus globally.

“We're really hoping we can get a great turnout and hopefully build on this as a community event annually,” Wyka said. “We're hoping for several hundred kids and parents to stop by.”