BATH

With just under two weeks to go before Christmas Eve, Santa and Mrs. Claus can get extremely busy with last minute details. But fortunately for the more than 1,900 people who rode the Candy Cane Train on Saturday and Sunday, the North Pole’s most famous first family was able to break away and visit with the children, take photographs and share some cookies.

The ninth annual fundraiser to benefit Tri-County Literacy began at the Bath Train Station — four train runs each day — and wound up in Wiscasset where some elves from the local middle and high schools entertained track-side before returning to Bath.

En route, there was caroling with the Nor’easters, cookies to eat, holiday stories and, of course, a visit with jolly ol’ Saint Nick, who took time to visit with each little boy and girl.

“It’s always wonderful to come down and visit the train,” said Santa following Saturday’s runs. “There’s a hundred different reactions from the children. It’s a great way to start Christmas.”

Of course, just as Santa needs helpers in his North Pole workshop to get the job done, this weekend’s event was no different. More than a hundred volunteers helped make the annual train run a success, according to Katie Clark, coordinator of Tri-County Literacy’s Read With Me Family Literacy Program.

Volunteers included members of the Maine 3 Railers Model Railroad Club, who set up a display in the train station as well as manned the trains as conductors; local cheerleaders being true to their “inner-elves”; storytellers and singers; cookie bakers and souvenir makers; “cocoa barristers” handing out hot chocolate; train and station decorators; and much more.

“They did a nice job and they deserve some credit,” Santa said in particular of the cheerleaders who helped out as elves on Saturday. “They can work for me any year. There will be something special in their stocking Christmas morning.”

While this was a first-time trip for some, it was the third time Judi Foye of Freeport has brought her grandson, Gordie Foye, 8, and his cousin, Sam Cashman, 8.

“I like the candy canes and food,” Gordie Foye said, adding, “the train ride’s cool. I like sightseeing.”

Judi Foye has brought the boys before, but they didn’t remember everything, so Saturday’s run was “a trip down memory lane. It’s a nice tradition,” she said.

Conductor Tony Masulaitis of Woolwich has volunteered for the past five years. He’s a member of the Maine 3 Railers, and pointed out some of the highlights along the way to Wiscasset and back.

While it’s obviously a fun weekend for families, the Candy Cane Train’s true success is measured throughout the year as Tri- County Literacy is able to work with adults and Head Start families to accomplish their various goals.

There are 66 active 1-to-1 matches where a volunteer is paired up with an adult who needs assistance to meet a life goal, according to TCL Executive Director Deb Nowak. Another 50 are part of literacy groups. TCL also works with about 130 families with children in Head Start.

“Literacy encompasses much more than just reading,” she explained. It could be any life skill, such as balancing a checkbook, learning to read in order to take a driver’s test or shop in the grocery store, or simply to be able to read a bedtime story to one’s grandchild. “Whatever the goals, we work on it.”

The weekend was a “Black Friday” of sort for the literacy group, as proceeds will account for between 15 and 20 percent of the yearly budget.

Among those served by TCL programming are adult English language learners, those needing basic education or computer literacy, and individuals facing developmental challenges. All those programs, according to Clark, are free.

Although Tri-County Literacy only has three part-time staff, Nowak explains that the Candy Cane Train truly is a community program.

“We rent the train (from Maine Eastern Railroad) and get one engineer and conductor,” she said. “Everybody else is a volunteer. … The entire community is behind us on this. Main Street Bath let’s us use the (train) facility. The Boys Scouts help set up and tear down. We had foreign exchange students handing out hot cocoa. … The support is just getting larger and larger. All the cookies were donated. We aim for 2,400 cookies.”

Nowak noted that major sponsors like the Davenport Trust, Bath Savings Institution, James and Betty Jacobs Family Charitable Trust and a lot of other smaller sponsors and businesses have made the program a success. Businesses also sponsored tickets that could be given to community members who are in the Read With Me Program, for example.

“It’s a fun holiday event for the family,” Nowak said. Nobody’s getting paid for this. Volunteers “love working with the public. They love trains. It’s community helping community.”

TO LEARN MORE about Tri- County Literacy, visit www.tricountyliteracy.org.

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.