The Holiday Train rumbles back in to Lethbridge, spreading a little Christmas cheer, the music of Great Big Sea’s Alan Doyle and the beautiful band, and, most importantly, raising money and collecting donations for the Lethbridge F
oodbank, Dec. 10 from 6:45-7:30 p.m.
The holiday train has a lot of stops to make this season, so don’t be fashionably late.
“We‘re doing 172 stops this year,” said CP Rail media relations advisor Mallory McCredie, noting two Holiday trains are traveling all over Canada and the United States.
The Lethbridge stop is behind the old Save on Foods at 2nd Ave. North & 12th St.
“The train will stop at 7 p.m. and the stage door will open at 7 p.m. And Alan will play one song. Then there will be a short ceremony with local dignitaries and we’ll make the presentation. We don’t want to take up too much time. Then Alan will play another 20 minutes. Because it’s Christmas, it will probably be traditional holiday music,” she observed, adding the band doesn’t include any other members of Great Big Sea. Doyle takes over from Colin James in Calgary and will be playing with James at the Calgary stop.
“ Part of the experience is watching the train come in. I’m actually jealous I won’t able to see it in Lethbridge because it crosses the bridge,” she said. The trains have 14 cars all decorated with colourful, lights and LED lights outlining each car.
The Holiday Train is an important fundraiser for community food banks.
“This is the nineteenth year we’ve been doing the Holiday Train. In that time we’ve raised $13 million in cash and 4 million pounds of food. And everything that is raised in the community stays in the community,” she said, suggesting people think about what they donate.
“ Don’t just donate things you aren’t going to eat yourself. Choose healthy food choices, canned goods and baby food for families,” she advised.
“But we appreciate anything you can donate,” she added.
For something new this year, you can follow the the train’s route online on http://www.cpholidaytrain.ca/
“We have a train-tracker with a GPS system, so you can follow the train in real time. I’m following it a lot because it’s so interesting,” she said.
They also have their own Facebook page.
