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hplandmark.com news<br />
the highland park landmark | December 6, 2018 | 3<br />
‘Polar Express’ classic brought<br />
to life at Story Time Train<br />
Jacqueline Zeisloft<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
The Polar Express Story<br />
Time Train event celebrates<br />
another successful<br />
year of bringing the<br />
families of Highland Park<br />
together to delight in holiday<br />
cheer and kickoff the<br />
Christmas season.<br />
Each year the special<br />
holiday spectacular is<br />
sponsored by the Park<br />
District of Highland Park.<br />
The event maintains its<br />
fervent popularity among<br />
members of the community,<br />
especially with<br />
young families. The two<br />
rides on Saturday, Dec. 1<br />
were sold out, and the two<br />
upcoming rides on Dec. 8<br />
have also sold out.<br />
The grand success of<br />
The Polar Express Story<br />
Time Train is no mystery.<br />
The event integrates a fun<br />
train ride, a meeting with<br />
Santa, a short concert of<br />
holiday songs and an opportunity<br />
for caroling for<br />
the whole family.<br />
On Saturday afternoon<br />
at the entrance of<br />
the Highland Park Metra<br />
station, Cathy Fiori, a<br />
Park District of Highland<br />
Park employee and event<br />
organizer, greeted arriving<br />
families with a warm<br />
smile while outside the<br />
station walls an icy monsoon<br />
of bitter winds and<br />
freezing rains racked the<br />
downtown area.<br />
But the weather<br />
couldn’t dampen the spirits<br />
of the crowd huddled<br />
in the station. At the door,<br />
children received a bag<br />
filled with holiday cookies,<br />
candy canes, a coloring<br />
book and a copy<br />
of Chris Van Allsburg’s<br />
iconic picture book, “The<br />
Polar Express.” The event<br />
could have doubled as a<br />
youth fashion show. Toddlers<br />
decked out in Spiderman<br />
pajamas and<br />
snowflake onesies stole<br />
the show with their cute<br />
factor. The anticipatory<br />
energy in the station was<br />
contagious.<br />
“My favorite part of the<br />
event is seeing the really<br />
little ones. They are so<br />
mesmerized by the whole<br />
thing,” Fiori said. “It<br />
makes us feel like we are<br />
doing something special<br />
for them.”<br />
The Deerfield Choraliers,<br />
an a cappella<br />
ensemble from local<br />
Deerfield High School,<br />
performed a spirited set<br />
of holiday favorites in the<br />
station. They sang, danced<br />
and snapped for about 30<br />
minutes before it was time<br />
to board the train.<br />
The group started to<br />
make its way from the<br />
station to the platform. A<br />
young boy hugged a woman<br />
dressed as Mrs. Claus<br />
and asked her where Santa<br />
was, to which she replied,<br />
“he’s at the North Pole<br />
waiting for us.”<br />
On the platform, Katie,<br />
Alexis and Anna Nagasawa,<br />
three young sisters<br />
from Highland Park,<br />
stood in a circle huddled<br />
against each other. They<br />
belted “Jingle Bells” with<br />
all their might, their passion<br />
keeping them warm<br />
against the cold.<br />
The train finally arrived<br />
to cheers from the crowd.<br />
The eager Polar Express<br />
passengers rushed into<br />
the tinsel-covered train<br />
cars and settled in for the<br />
exciting trip to the North<br />
Pole.<br />
Each year The Park<br />
District of Highland Park<br />
works with Metra and<br />
the city to coordinate the<br />
logistics for the event.<br />
Reserving a whole Metra<br />
car for “Group Travel,”<br />
the Park District and volunteers<br />
board the train<br />
car a few stops before<br />
Highland Park to set-up<br />
decorations. After the passengers<br />
board, the train<br />
takes them up to Waukegan,<br />
or the North Pole on<br />
this train trip.<br />
At Waukegan, Santa<br />
boarded the train and<br />
greeted each child. With<br />
their favorite celebrity in<br />
their presence, one could<br />
tell they were a little starstruck.<br />
He gave everyone<br />
a teddy bear and tucked<br />
Christmas lists into his<br />
pocket.<br />
Brian Romes, another<br />
Park District employee,<br />
serves as the “train conductor”<br />
and storyteller<br />
on each ride. Volunteers<br />
pass out the famous<br />
“golden tickets” as seen<br />
in the Polar Express film<br />
and Romes walks up and<br />
down the aisles in an official-looking<br />
hat and uniform,<br />
punching tickets.<br />
Then the noisy car hushes<br />
as he reads the “The Polar<br />
Express,” the children and<br />
parents hanging on every<br />
word of the classic tale.<br />
What Romes enjoys<br />
most about the event each<br />
year is its family-driven<br />
spirit.<br />
“They are so pleasant<br />
and everyone is in a good<br />
mood,” he said. “It’s a<br />
great family event and a<br />
long enough ride to give<br />
families time to enjoy it.<br />
It’s truly an experience.”<br />
Asher Smith (left), with his brothers Oliver and Gabriel, show off their “golden ticket”<br />
train tickets while enjoying candy canes Saturday, Dec. 1, in Highland Park. Nicole<br />
Carrow/22nd Century Media<br />
Join us Monday<br />
through Friday<br />
Froggys<br />
French Cafe<br />
Monthly Special for December<br />
Available for Lunch $18 or<br />
Dinner $20 per person BEFORE 6pm<br />
<br />
CHOICE OF Soup (3) or Salad<br />
ENTREE CHOICE OF...<br />
Roasted Breast of Chicken Florentine<br />
(spinach and cheese)<br />
or<br />
Beef Bourguignon<br />
or<br />
Grilled Atlantic Salmon<br />
your choice prepared either Provence or Beurre Blanc<br />
All main courses are served with three vegetables and a starch<br />
FOR RESERVATIONS CALL 847.433.7080<br />
WWW.FROGGYSRESTAURANT.COM<br />
306 GREEN BAY ROAD, HIGHWOOD<br />
Not available for parties of 6 or more. Monthly Specials not valid on Holidays.<br />
Make Early Reservations for Christmas Eve & New Year’s Eve
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