By David F. Rooney
Ah! The CPR Holiday Train! It’s a sure sign that Christmas is near.
This marvellous tradition held each year by the Canadian Pacific Railway helps finance food banks right across Canada and motivate our communities, too.
This year’s Holiday Train was greeted by a decent-sized and enthusiastic crowd. Here are a few photos from the event:
The CPR Holiday Train rolled into Revelstoke Friday at 6 pm with Canadian entertainers oDoc Walker, Miss Emily, and the Brothers Dube .The annual train raises money and food donations for food banks right across the country. David F. Rooney photo The large and enthusiastic crowd really enjoyed the show. David F. Rooney photo Mayor David Raven greeted the Holiday Train and found himself being recorded for a video. David F. Rooney photo Community Connections Food Bank Manager Patti Larson was literally dwarfed by this year’s cheque from the Holiday Train program — a whopping $4,000. David F. Rooney photo Patti was very grateful for the program, which has seen millions of dollars in cash raised to help the country’s beleaguered system of food banks. Despite what many people think, food banks are not government supported. Patti was, though, pleased to learn that the CPR’s Holiday Train received one of the Canada’s very first Prime Minister’s Award for Volunteerism. David F. Rooney photo Miller Painter, being held here by Kelly Riguedell, lucked out when Santa Claus offered him not just one candy cane, but two of the minty red-white-and-green sweets. David F. Rooney photo It might have been fairly mild Friday afternoon but it did cool right off in the evening. These folks had a solution to that — a toasty fire. David F. Rooney photo Revelstoke’s firefighters kept warm by beeing busy handing out coffee, cocoa and other consumables. David F. Rooney photo There might have been a great, big steel Holiday Train just a couple of hundred yards away, but these little guys preferred this inflatable and oh-so-much-more-accessible Christmas train. David F. Rooney photo