Malden Public Safety Day was a Big Draw at Linden Park

Hundreds of locals turned out for the event featuring fun, food, ‘Touch-A-Truck’ and fire and police safety demonstrations

By Steve Freker

Hundreds of Malden residents of all ages found out this past Sunday, October 6 that being safe and having fun go hand-in-hand. Malden’s Annual Public Safety Day was held at Linden Park on Wescott Street – featuring a picture-perfect weather day. The popular event once again drew a huge crowd of participants.

It was hosted by the City of Malden: the Malden Police Department, Malden Fire Department and other city agencies, such as the Department of Public Works (DPW). Those who came to Linden on Sunday were able to meet police officers and firefighters, DPW employees and others from the realm of public safety and law enforcement, seeing and asking them how they did their day-to-day duties. Representatives from Cataldo Ambulance, Mass. State Police and the Massachusetts Probation Department were also on hand to interact with Malden residents and pass on information about their duties.

One of the biggest attractions of every one of these events is “Touch-A-Truck”: the invitation to climb up on and sit in the vehicles that are used by the police and fire personnel in their daily jobs. Fire trucks and other fire vehicles and police cruisers and special operations vehicles were plentiful, and many children and their caregivers took advantage of the opportunities to check them out.

Malden Mayor Gary Christenson was on hand for the event, along with Ward 8 Councillor Jadeane Sica, Councillor-at-Large Craig Spadafora, City Council President Steve Winslow (Ward 6) and some other local elected and appointed city officials, such as Police Chief Glenn Cronin, Fire Chief Stephen Froio and DPW Director Bob Knox.

Some other highlights of the day, which ran from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., were a K-9 dog demonstration by Mass. State Police, a pumpkin giveaway, face painting, fire- and police-themed bouncy houses, fun safety courses, a live DJ, safety demonstrations and literature, free seedlings to plant trees from Malden Tree Warden Chris Rosa, free backpacks for 48 raffle winners, and free iPads for five raffle winners. Food was also a big part of this event, with lots of free pizza, hot dogs, candy and other treats, as well as fully stocked free food trucks.

Mayor Christenson and the City of Malden thanked all of those who worked to make this such a great event, including:

—Malden Housing Authority (donated the backpacks and iPads)

—Cataldo Ambulance (donated the buckets of free slush)

—Piantedosi Baking Co. of Malden (donated the hot dog rolls)

—Stop & Shop of Malden (donated many cases of water)

—Ward 8 Councillor Jadeane Sica (donated pizza and DJ services)

—Councillor-at-Large Craig Spadafora (donated pumpkins for the Great Pumpkin Giveaway)

—Anthony’s of Malden (donated the free hot dogs)

—Girl Scouts of Malden (donated the face painting services)