Kids take reins of Marion Police vehicles at ‘Touch a Truck’

Jun 29, 2024

MARION — If you closed your eyes at Marion’s Silvershell Beach on the afternoon of Saturday, June 29, the sounds might have led you to believe you were in Manhattan.

Tri-Town children made sure that the horns of Marion Police and Fire Department vehicles were working properly that day at the annual “Touch a Truck” event hosted by Marion Recreation.

Kids on the nearby beach dropped shovels and buckets to see what the commotion was all about. Upon arriving to a field right by the beach, the sight of around 20 large vehicles quickly made many forget about their beach day.

One of the biggest hits of the afternoon was getting the chance to use the microphone inside of a police cruiser.

“Stop right there bad guy!” one child shouted out when it was his turn inside of the car.

Another main attraction was Cowboy, a 10-month old labrador retriever owned by Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Johnson.

According to Johnson, Cowboy is trained to sniff out electronics like SD cards and other small devices.

On this sunny Saturday, Cowboy was smelling hot dogs and sweets from the nearby snack shack.

Another one of Johnson’s dogs, Sunny, starred in a demonstration where another deputy posed as a threat.

Johnson let go of Sunny’s leash and the Shepherd quickly dashed over to save the day and was met with a loud round of applause.

Assistant Director of Recreation Adam Lambert said the event started about four years ago.

“It feels great being part of setting this up and letting people have some fun,” said Lambert.