Each holiday season, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad provides free Polar Express train tickets to foster-adopt families in La Plata County, giving children the chance to experience holiday magic.
About 80 free tickets – enough to fill two coach cars – were given to foster-adopt families for Thursday’s inaugural Polar Express ride, said railroad General Manager Jeff Johnson.
Coach tickets for children range from $31.32 to $56.16 during times of peak demand.
The 65-minute ride features dancing and singing chefs, caroling, cookies, hot chocolate, a visit to the North Pole, and appearances from Polar Express fan favorites like Hero Boy and the Conductor. Santa also visits each train car to deliver sleigh bells and spread holiday cheer.
Foster-adopt families aren’t the only ones receiving discounted tickets: the Boys and Girls Club of La Plata County also receives low-cost tickets each year, Johnson said.
He said the railroad is honored to provide free and reduced tickets to local families who might not otherwise experience the ride.
“It’s a big part of what we like to do to give back to the community,” he said. “The families have responded well, and we’ve loved having the opportunity to do it.”
Katrina Mars rode the train Thursday with four of her six kids: Elissa, 20; Matthew, 14; Emma, 14; and Josh, 13.
Her two other children – Kayden, 13, and James, 22 – stayed behind.
Matthew, Emma, Josh and Kayden – all adopted by Mars and dad Dusty through foster care – have ridden the train for several years in a row. The free tickets are open to any foster or adopted families in La Plata County, including those like the Mars family, who closed their home to placements in 2018.
“We’re very thankful for the department and the Durango train for providing (the tickets),” Mars said. “I know that La Plata County works very hard to support their foster and adoptive families, and that’s not always a given in different counties or states. It’s just a treat for us to get to be able to do that, and it’s something that the kids look forward to.”
Emma said her favorite part was the cookies and hot chocolate. Josh liked the decorations, and Matthew enjoyed the dancing chefs.
La Plata County foster parents Courtney and Bobby Williams also rode the train Thursday with four of their nine children and their 9-year-old foster child.
Nari, 5, adopted through foster care, said her favorite part was the cookies. Ezra, 7, also adopted through foster care, said he liked the story – delivered through speakers and a storybook passed around the train.
Courtney, who has ridden the train with her children for several years, said the free tickets make the experience possible for a large family.
“It’s great to be able to take them all on the train,” she said. “And they get so excited.”
Their foster child said he had been looking forward to the train ride for two weeks.
Charmaine Summers, foster care and adoption supervisor for La Plata County Foster Care and Adoption Services, called the free tickets an “incredible token of generosity” from the railroad.
“This is our holiday celebration for our families,” Summers said. “The families love it.”
epond@durangoherald.com
