FULTON – Fulton’s Special Events Committee continued its series of events in the city with the second annual Big Truck Day held yesterday, Saturday May 14 along the shore of Lake Neatahwanta at the Fulton War Memorial Complex.
Families and residents flocked to the area to explore the ins and outs of several vehicles, including fire trucks, ambulances, a SWAT tank, race cars, police cars, and construction vehicles.
Chris Waldron, director of the Parks and Recreation department and a member of the Special Events Committee, has made it his goal to bring more events to the city of Fulton to instill a better sense of community pride.
The Special Events Committee was created in January 2021 as a volunteer organization and went under the umbrella of the Fulton Community Revitalization Corp, giving them a non-profit status to qualify for seed money to become its own non-profit organization.
“The City of Fulton Special Events Committee continues to make great strides in bringing quality family friendly events to the community,” said Mayor Deana Michaels. “My goal remains to bring more events and opportunities for the community to enjoy and give people a reason to stop and enjoy Fulton. Our Special Events Committee understands this goal and aims to deliver quality events throughout the year. It’s been a long time since Fulton has provided this level of opportunity.”
Recently, the committee received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the New York State Parks and Recreation Society, a first for the city. The committee was chosen for its overall body of work within the first year of its existence. Waldron said this award is typically a lifetime achievement award after being active for several years, and he took pride that the committee achieved it in just one year.
“To be at that award ceremony… representing my hometown with my department, with a group of ladies who have relentless efforts to make the city better, was awesome,” Waldron said. “There were lots of nominations but the award winners were absolutely the best in New York state, so to be putting Fulton on the map on a state level, it means a lot to us.”
Waldron said he wanted more events in the city to provide to a sense of community
He said he feels the community perception of the Parks and Recreation department has changed since last year’s Big Truck Day.
“They saw a department that can be held to a high standard and have an event that can be held to a high standard and have a huge impact on the community, and that kind of set the bar,” Waldron said. “Especially after the pandemic, it’s improving their mental health and [the events] are really bringing happiness to people too.”
He said other impacts of the events include bringing tourists into Fulton with the hopes that they visit local businesses while in the city, making students proud to be from Fulton and helping residents get jobs at local manufacturing businesses with hiring booths.
“People want to live in a vibrant and active community, so we’re hoping that what we do and the impact we’re having on this community is that people see it and want to move to Fulton,” Waldron said. “It’s much more than organizing fun… We want to make it so the people of the city are proud to be from here.”
Up next on the list of upcoming events from the Special Events Committee will be the Community Market on Saturday, June 11, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and will also be located along Lake Neatahwanta at the Fulton War Memorial Complex. Vendors will include antiques, crafts, artisans and more.
All photos below by Kassadee Bradshaw.
