(The following story by Kelly Cales appeared on the Briston Herald Courier website on November 20.)
KINGSPORT, Tenn. — Boxes of school supplies, food and holiday toys were piled high in the Food City parking lot – a conveyor belt down the middle. And 200-plus volunteers went right to work, packing 15 tons of those holiday gifts into purple and blue backpacks for the Santa Train.
Wednesday was packing day for the annual project, which delivers holiday packages to families in need during a 110 mile route through Appalachia, from Pikeville, Ky., to Kingsport, Tenn.
“It’s organized chaos, if you will,” Food City District Manager Haskel Bledsoe said as volunteers and organizers readied the gift packs at the Food City on North Eastman Road.
The packing event attracts many familiar faces, but organizers said every year welcomes newcomers, from ages 16 on up this year, to the Santa Train festivities.
“This is my first time coming out here to stuff the totes for the kids and it’s something to put on the calendar for next year,” said Nick Patrick, president of the Vietnam Veterans Kingsport Chapter Nine.
Food City employees were out at 9 a.m. setting up the conveyor belt, which allowed for efficient packing by the volunteers. By 5 p.m., the boxes of toys, school supplies, and food were lined along the Food City sidewalks. And by 8 p.m., the work was done.
“When volunteers show up, certain people have the bag line and certain ones will do the food line. We’re trying to make things go smoothly,” Store Manager Ed Moore said.
Coffee and hot chocolate helped chase away the chill while the volunteers worked.
The Santa Train has been on track for 66 years and is co-sponsored by CSX Transportation, Food City and the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce. The food and gifts will be distributed along 14 stops in Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. Country music artist Kathy Mattea will serve as the celebrity guest aboard the train to help distribute gifts.
Kingsport merchants started the Santa Train to show their appreciation to customers and to help families with little money around the holidays. With the current unstable economy and high unemployment rates, organizers said the Santa Train might prove especially important to struggling families in the Tri-Cities this season.
After the packing was done Wednesday, the backpacks of toys and crates of food were loaded into a Food City truck to be transported to the Santa Train, which will depart from Shelby, Ky., at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. The train’s final stop is Kingsport, at 3 p.m.
Organizers said they are changing their approach this year.
“We’re not gonna throw so much off the train, instead we are filling totes stuffed with toys and gifts to pass out,” Bledsoe said.
The gifts are collected through community donations. And preparation for the gift-giving extravaganza is a year-round effort.
“We start right after the Santa Train actually runs every year,” Bledsoe said, “getting donations, getting things prepared for next year.”
Kelly Cales is a multimedia fellow who can be reached at kcales@wjhl.com
Santa Train Itinerary
Kentucky
* Shelby: Departs at 7:30 a.m.
* Marrowbone: Arrives at 7:45 a.m., departs at 7:55 a.m.
* Elkhorn: 8:20 a.m. to 8:33 a.m.
Virginia
* Toms Bottom: Arrives at 8:53 a.m., departs at 8:58 a.m.
* Haysi: 9:10 a.m. to 9:20 a.m.
* Clinchco: 9:37 a.m. to 9:47 a.m.
* Freemont: 10 a.m. to 10:20 a.m.
* Dante: 10:55 a.m. to 11:10 a.m.
* St. Paul: 11:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
* Dungannon: 12:30 p.m. to 12:45 p.m.
* Fort Blackmore: 1:05 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.
* Kermit: 1:55 p.m. to 2:10 p.m.
* Waycross: 2:22 p.m. to 2:37 p.m.
Tennessee
* Kingsport: Arrives at 3 p.m.