Big Truck Day at the Destin Community Center

If it had a horn, it got honked multiple times Friday morning at Big Truck Day at the Destin Community Center.

Various entities from around the area came out with their big trucks. Among the attendees were Waste Management, Destin Fire Control District, Okaloosa County EMS, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Boat, a school bus, Destin Tow Brothers, UPS and big machinery trucks from Hurlburt Field.

“I thought we really had a good turnout,” said Lindsey Pachan, customer service/recreation assistant at the community center.

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More than 300 youth milled around the parking lot full of trucks in 90 degree weather. And every chance they got to sit in the seat of one of the vehicles or big pieces of equipment, they honked the horn if it had one.

“They are still out there honking now,” Pachan said, as the morning wrapped up a little after 11 a.m.

This year Big Truck Day sported 22 trucks with six coming from Hurlburt Field. The milling machine from Hurlburt was massive and weighs 80,000 pounds.

But the piece of equipment that drew a lot of attention was the reconnaissance truck and all its toys.

"I’d have to say this is my favorite,” said 12-year-old Jackson O’Connor as he tried on the ballistic helmet that was part of the reconnaissance truck display.

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Others were trying their hand at flying a drone that went by the name of Skydio S2D.

Another favorite is always the fire truck from Destin Fire Control District. Not only do the kids get to climb up for a seat behind the wheel, but they got fire hats as well.

Brent Spicer, 8, said his favorite was the SWAT vehicle. Eliza Atwell, 5, thought the backhoe was “cool.”

As for 6-year-old Penelope Phohl, “I like the wire honk line,” she said as she stepped off the bucket line truck from Hurlburt.

One of the favorites of the little ones is always the pipe hunter truck from the city of Destin. The pipe hunter is used to clean out gutters, but on Big Truck Day it is used to suck up plastic balls that the children feed via a big tube.

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Children also got a chance to climb aboard a school bus and check out the seats before heading off to school on Aug. 10.

Big Truck Day is an annual event held at the Community Center before school starts.