This Thursday, the [Town of Danvers](http://danvers.govoffice.com/) hosted an “Open House.” They opened up the town’s departments to the public, and hosted tours and events to give the people of Danvers a peek inside their town’s inner workings. The [Salem Trolley](http://www.salemtrolley.com/) had been commissioned to take visitors from one place to another. There were also refreshments in each location. So Becky, Catherine and I drove downtown and took a ride around town to see what exactly our tax dollars are paying for! 🙂

We first stopped at Town Hall to have some cheese and crackers, and to view some displays set up from various town offices. Next, we headed over to the Police Headquarters where we got a tour of the building and got to see the jail cells (thankfully empty!), as well as a presentation on various law enforcement gear and confiscated drug paraphernalia. The Police department was also giving out hot dogs, chips, and juice, and McGruff the Crime Dog made an appearance! After the P.D., we went to the Fire Department, where they had some fire trucks out for kids to explore, as well as a demonstration of the Jaws of Life on an old car out in front. The Fire Department also served up some pizza for everyone. Finally, we headed over to the Electric Department to see … well, not much, actually, since it’s basically just a garage and storage area for their equipment. But they did have a diorama of an electrical system set up, as well as some spooky Halloween displays and a lady dressed up as “Volta”, the compact fluorescent bulb. They were also giving kids rides up in a bucket truck.

All in all, it was a fun evening. I think Catherine enjoyed getting to see all of the different things, but I think she’d enjoy it much more if she was just a bit older. There were definitely a ton of elementary school aged kids there, and there were plenty of activities and presentations set up and geared towards them. Kudos for the Town of Danvers for opening up and putting on the evening!

You can see all of our [pics from the Danvers Open House](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/events/2007/danvers_open_house/).