NUTLEY, NJ — Although early morning showers threatened to ruin the annual Big Truck Day in Nutley, scheduled for Saturday, May 7, the clouds soon broke apart and by 11 a.m. the sun was shining through.
In Municipal Lot No. 1, everything was ready for the annual event. Perhaps a dozen heavy-duty vehicles, both large and small, were positioned on the perimeter of the lot that had been cleared of cars. By the noon starting time, children began arriving with their parents. At the greeting table, every child was given a yellow plastic hard hat they could wear and then take home.
The vehicles had been supplied by the Department of Public Works. A DPW worker stood beside each truck to help the children up into the cab, which for some vehicles could be nearly 6 feet above the macadam. After a few minutes, during which time the kid would be blowing the horn, pushing the deactivated buttons, bouncing on the seats and waving to their parents, the worker would lower the child down and give the next child in line a boost up into the cab.
All morning, moms and dads were taking photographs of their children as they waved from inside the cabs of the vehicles or stood next to the mammoth-size tires or inside an earth scoop the size of a living-room sofa.
The mood was festive and the children were excited, as if they were being allowed to stay up past their bedtimes. They seemed to enjoy everything, and could be seen dragging their parents from truck to truck.
It seemed the highlight of the day for many children — who were all elementary-school age, mostly boys, but some girls too — was blowing the horns. About every 10 or 15 seconds those Klaxon-like horns, loud enough to clear motorists off the roadway during heavy thunderstorms, had adults practically jumping out of their skin.
The kids loved it, though, and that’s what the day was all about.
“We do this every year,” said Commissioner Joseph Scarpelli, who runs the DPW. “Obviously, the kids enjoy it.”
Pointing at the queues of children forming before each truck, he added, “Later on, the lines will be a lot longer.”
Scarpelli said 12 employees from his department had volunteered their time to make the day possible.
“They’re all off the clock,” said the commissioner. “We’re doing this for the kids.
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