Spring fun spans adult, youth tastes

Cathy Spaulding, Muskogee Phoenix, Okla.
·2 min read

May 2—Youngsters and adults alike found Saturday springtime fun at Touch-A-Truck and Party in the Park.

Diesel Clay, 9, helped move big tree limbs with a City of Muskogee knuckle boom truck during Saturday morning's Touch-A-Truck. The event, which benefits Muskogee Public Library, drew several hundred youngsters to Hatbox Field.

"I got to make it go up, down, and make it go back and forth," Diesel said. "And I also got to make it open and close. It was easy."

He said he also got to see motorcycles and tractors. Youngsters roamed Hatbox Field, climbing on excavators, beeping horns on moving company vans, and covering their ears when sirens blew. Little ones got to play with toy trucks and dirt-moving shovels.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Stanley Roedenbeck helped youngsters on and off an airboat, which uses a giant fan for propulsion.

"We use the boat for shallow water recoveries, rescue missions," Roedenbeck said. "Any time there's an unknown water depth, we'll use it."

Sammy Fowler, 6, of Checotah, was among the youngsters climbing on the boat. However, Sammy said he liked the tow trucks best.

Saturday afternoon, adults sampled varieties of wine, beer and other delicacies at Party in the Park, held at the Honor Heights Papilion.

Monica Medley said she enjoyed everything she had sampled.

"The atmosphere is fantastic, the people are great," Medley said. "It's just so much fun, meeting new people. It's great to get out."

Rotary Club of Muskogee sponsors the annual event to help Rotary International's efforts to provide clean water to underserved populations.

Corey Carolina of Carolina Food Co., offered his wine in the food.

"I mix wine and fruit together and make various jellies out of them," Carolina said. "We have wine in pasta sauces and pepper sauces as well."

Carolina said the strawberry and sangria is good on toast, biscuits, bagels or pancakes.

"Very good on peanut butter," he said. "I make it with peanut butter and jelly all the time."

Jackie Cheryl of Oke Ozark, said the winery brought 21 varieties to sample Saturday.

"We go from the fruit wine to the grapes, we even have a pepper wine," Cheryl said. "We grow everything that's in our bottles. We grow it, we bottle it, we process it all right there in Salina, Oklahoma."