Visitors have the opportunity to operate heavy construction equipment under the guidance of an experienced operator and participate in other activities, including a mullet contest during the Vancouver Dozer Day event on Saturday, Oct. 5, and Sunday, Oct. 6, at the Clark County Fairgrounds.
The event at the Clark County Fairgrounds will begin at 11 a.m. and run until 4 p.m., both days, during which kids can drive the equipment at the Clark County Fairgrounds grandstand.
“If they are less than 48-inches tall (4 feet), they drive the equipment with an operator, and if they’re over 48-inches tall they get to go over to the adult area, and we will have an operator on the side of the equipment showing them how to run the equipment,” Renee Nutter, president of the Nutter Family Foundation, which sponsors the event, said. “The bigger kids [and adults] will actually get in the cab of the equipment all by themselves and operate it.”
The equipment will be set up to create different challenges for the equipment operators to accomplish, Nutter said.
“They’ll be moving some dirt and they’ll have to pick up cones, so there’s just some challenges with the buckets, picking this up and putting it there, you know, just some fun little contests,” she said. “It looks easy until you’re in the cab doing it. It’s kind of like that video game where it all looks easy until you’re the one trying to operate it.”
In addition to the equipment for kids and adults to operate, the event will feature large tires to crawl on, rocks to paint and sand piles for a Tonka truck work zone, food and music.
Nutter believes exposing the youth and high school students with construction trade opportunities at the career fair is a great way to keep fresh faces entering the career.
On Friday, Oct. 4, at the fairgrounds, over 900 high school students will be welcomed for a career fair to see all the construction trade opportunities the region has to offer.
“We’ve got a lot of new partners that are eagerly looking to give some great opportunities to these high school kids,” Nutter said. “I mean, gosh, you look at how prevailing wage jobs pay these days. I mean, if I was in high school, I would definitely be going into the trade right now.”
New this year to the annual event will be the release of the Nutter Foundation’s first book, “Dozer Day Paves the Way!” The children’s book, written by Sammi Nutter Charlton, is based on a true story about a boy named “Dozer Dan” who went to Dozer Day as a child and then volunteered at the event when he was old enough and eventually entered the trade industry for a career.
“Dozer Dan” will come to life in the form of a mascot and can be found during the two-day event.
On Saturday, Oct. 5, and Sunday, Oct. 6, at 11:30 a.m., author Sammi Nutter Charlton will read her book in the park area of the event. On Saturday, Oct. 5, at noon, a mullet contest will be held at the main stage.
The Dozer Day events across the country are fundraisers with net proceeds given back to local nonprofits. Renee Nutter said the events and grants have given back over $2.2 million to local nonprofits. To learn more about grant opportunities, visit vancouver.dozerday.org/grants/.
To buy tickets for the event, and to learn more information, visit vancouver.dozerday.org. The Clark County Fairgrounds is located at 17402 NE Delfel Road, Ridgefield.
