Planes, trucks and automobiles return to the Dickson Municipal Airport for the annual Touch A Truck/Fly-In on Saturday, Oct. 1.
The Dickson Parks and Recreation Department presents its 17th Touch A Truck and the Dickson Municipal Airport hosts its 9th Fly-In 10 am-2 pm at Pack Field, 2372 Sylvia Road. The event is free and the Humane Society of Dickson County will be on site to accept donations to help care for the animals in its shelter.
Children of all ages will get the chance to experience emergency and working vehicles of all kinds as part of Touch A Truck. The Fly-In will bring a variety of small aircraft to the experience as well and will offer airplane rides over Dickson County.
From fire trucks, police cars, motorcycles and ambulances to dump trucks, construction equipment and tractors, Touch A Truck provides a chance for children to experience these vehicles up close.
In 2018, the Parks and Recreation Department moved Touch A Truck from J. Dan Buckner Park to the Dickson Municipal Airport-Pack Field to join forces with its annual Fly-In to expand into the field of aviation. The 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the event returned in 2021 with a toy drive to benefit the children of Waverly following the devastating flood of Aug. 21, 2021.
This year’s event will feature donations for June’s Pet Haven and Bark Park, the Humane Society’s shelter on Tennsco Drive. The shelter is currently experiencing an overcrowding crisis with more than 115 dogs and 100 cats housed in the facility. Donations of dog and cat food, bleach, litter, towels, blankets, detergent, cleaning products and cash will be accepted.
“Touch A Truck has been one of the Parks Department’s most popular annual events for more than 15 years,” said Tabitha Jennette, programs coordinator for the Dickson Parks and Recreation Department. “Joining forces with the airport to add airplanes has only increased interest in the event.”
Touch A Truck will include a Kidzone with an inflatable slide, face painting and a balloon artist. Concessions will be available.
Dickson Airport Manager Mike Gallagher said a few of the pilots who will be attending the Fly-In have agreed to provide a limited number of airplane rides. Tickets for the airplane rides will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis for $20 per person until all the available ride slots have been filled.
Because there is limited parking at the airport, those attending Touch A Truck and the Fly-In will park near the south end of the runway in a field near the Airport Market at 2306 Sylvia Road. Jennette said there will be signs directing people to the parking area and buses will shuttle people to and from the airport throughout the event.
The Dickson Municipal Airport-Pack Field created the Fly-In as part of an annual 2nd Century of Flight celebration in 2012. During the annual celebrations, the airport dedicated its Aviation Wall of Fame.
The Aviation Wall of Fame features Garland Pack, Bruce Peery, Larry Horn, Lt. Col. Glenn Hicks and Buford “Booty” Reed as pioneers and contributors to aviation. The airfield at Dickson Municipal Airport was dedicated as Pack Field in 1999, honoring the Dickson native who built a biplane in downtown Dickson to become a barnstormer, then flew supply missions through the Himalayas in World War II and was a pioneer in glider technology. Peery was a WWII bomber pilot; Horn flew a B-23 Liberator in WWII; and Hicks flew a P24 fighter jet in WWII. A long-time Dickson County commissioner, Reed served on the Dickson Airport Authority and helped guide its growth and operation until his passing in 2019.
For more information on the 17th annual Touch A Truck, contact the Dickson Parks and Recreation Department at 615-446-1721. For more information on the 9th annual Fly-In, contact the Dickson Municipal Airport at 615-446-6611.
