A popular free family event is back for another year outside the WFCU Centre in Windsor.
The parking lot of the arena in the east end of the city will be the site for the 14th annual Meet-A-Machine this Saturday, June 13.
Over 90 machines will be on hand with their operators to allow children to climb aboard, discover, explore, and even honk the horns on the machinery.
Manager of Children’s Services for the City of Windsor Alicea Fleming says it’s a record number of vehicles for the event.
“We have our ENWIN bucket truck, which is always really popular every year. We’ll have lots of construction equipment; we have various City of Windsor vehicles. We’ll have a Transit Windsor bus; we’ve got OPP and Windsor Police cars. New this year, we have the Detroit Grand Prix show car,” she says.
The free event is also designed to promote literacy with children from the Windsor-Essex community in a fun and interactive way.
Fleming says every child who attends gets a free book at the literacy tent.
“We also have throughout the event all of the operators who are bringing machines have selected their favourite children’s book that relates to the work that they do,” she says. “You’ll see poster boards up throughout the event promoting various literacy titles with QR codes to check out more resources about the books online.”
Fleming says the last couple of years, they’ve seen around 10,000 children, parents, and caregivers, and they’re hoping to top that this year.
“This event is rain or shine, so we would definitely encourage folks to be ready for any weather; it’s looking like a very warm weekend. We want parents to make sure they bring hats and sunscreen. We have water fill stations throughout the site, so please bring a reusable water bottle. We also have lots of tents available to cool off,” she says.
Meet-A-Machine runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot of the WFCU Centre at 8787 McHugh Street.
There is a sensory-friendly hour from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., but registration is required.
Transit Windsor is also running a shuttle bus service between the parking lot near the PetSmart at Tecumseh Mall and the WFCU Centre to address parking needs. It will run between the two locations every 15 minutes.