Trotta Field becomes field of dreams with Big Rigs roll in

SALISBURY — They get a look in their eyes when they get around big machines. The eyes grow, like saucers, and become super-focused. It is as though they are stepping into another dimension, another reality when they are allowed to step into the cab of a backhoe, a dump truck, a firetruck, an ambulance.
 
And that’s just the parents. Their children, too, seemed transfixed and transformed when they are allowed to pretend they are operating the big rigs that line the pavement at Trotta Field for the annual Big Rig fundraiser for the Housatonic Child Care Center. 
 
It’s hard to know exactly what children (and adults) find so compelling about rolling steel, as these large machines are sometimes called. But there is no denying that something primal occurs. It is perhaps the same instinct that makes elephants and dinosaurs objects of fascination for youngsters; it is perhaps the idea that something so big and so powerful can be controlled and harnessed. 
 
In theory, at least. There are of course occasional workshops in the area for adults and young adults about safety and big machinery. But that wasn’t what Sunday’s Big Rig gathering was about; the June 8 event was more about dreams.
 
It wasn’t just the boys who were excited by the possibilities, either. Young ladies wearing sundresses, their hair neatly tied up in pig tails, were just as enthusiastic about stepping into the vehicles’ cabs and vigorously pulling and pushing levers and whirling the steering wheel.
 
Of course, those machines did not have keys in their ignition switches. But there was some action as well, as for example the Richard Ralph waste refusal company turned on its trash mashing machine, to the delight of all. 
 
Turnout this year was high, according to the organizers of the event, who marveled at the beautiful weather this year and in 2013. Previous Big Rig events had been plagued by heavy rain that not only discouraged attendance but also wreaked havoc with the grass on which the machinery was parked.
 
This year, in addition to more people buying tickets, there were also more vendors and more types of machinery. There were about 27 rigs this year, according to Darin Reid, who is a member of the town crew and who had spent more than a day cleaning off the town’s street sweeper so it would be gleaming on Sunday.
 
As a special treat, participants were invited to buy tickets to ride the cherry picker and get a bird’s eye view of the trucks and the surrounding area. 
 
Click here for another photo.

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