The Candian Pacific Holiday Train made its annual stop at Viking Park in Gurnee last night.
The train visits over 140 cities in the United States and Canada from late November to mid-December to raise funds and collect food for the hungry. Since the beginning of the Holiday Train‘s hunger relief mission in 1999, the program has raised more than 4.8 million in cash and over 2.3 million pounds of food have been collected.
The Holiday Train features 14 decorated rail cars lighted with thousands of LED lights.
As the train stops in each city, a freight car opens to reveal a stage where Santa appears, check presentations take place and musical entertainment perform. The United States tour musical entertainer this year is Melanie Doane who sings vocals and plays the electric violin. She is accompanied by a guitarist, bassist and drummer. They rocked out to various Christmas songs including “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” for half an hour, while Santa mingled with the crowd.
The Gurnee event was free but every participant was encouraged to bring non-perishable food items and/or money to support the Northern Illinois Food Bank.
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