OKEECHOBEE – The 17^th Annual Okeechobee Family Health and Safety Expo/Touch-A-Truck Event wrapped up another great year.

Chuck Akers, who organizes the event each year, said the day was full of health and safety information along with numerous activities for the entire family. The committee heard from so many vendors that due to the large attendance, they were running out of materials.

The event was attended by 2,512 attendees who found themselves leaving with a good understanding of the services available to them.

 Akers complimented Our Village and especially Magi Cable, who took charge of the green room again for the vendors and provided them with a fantastic breakfast and lunch. The vendors once again enjoyed another great lunch which was provided by Megan and her super staff from Nutmeg’s Café.

Alex Tijerina once again took charge of the Touch-A-Truck event and expanded the outside activities to include items such as the foam party and the trackless train. Our children really enjoyed themselves, which made the event a successful day for the entire family.

As they do every year, the Okeechobee County Community Emergency Response Team did an excellent job in assisting Mr. Akers throughout the event. The CERT team worked together to assure that the various programs went off without a hitch.

As usual Okeechobee County Fire Rescue Volunteers, led by Tracy Maxwell Downing commanded the concession stand to assure that every attendee was fed and her team did an outstanding job as usual.

Ken and Johanna Kenworthy, as they do every year had the privilege of handling the door prizes which is sponsored by the Children’s Services Council. Mr. Akers stated that this event would not be possible if it was not for the Council which has been the main sponsor for the door prizes all these years.

Chuck Akers and his entire staff wanted to thank everyone who participated this year, and we are looking forward to another great event next year on January 25, 2025.

Chuck Akers contributed to this story.