Children can meet Santa on Polar Express ride from Lisle to North Pole
Advance tickets for the 17th annual Lisle Polar Express Children’s Christmas Train now are on sale.
Last year, children and adults from more than 65 cities and suburbs rode The Lisle Polar Express.
Trains will leave at 9:45 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, from the Lisle Metra station. Tickets, $16, are available by sending a check, made out to The Polar Express, to P.O. Box 4237, Lisle, IL 60532. For faster service, guests are requested to enclose a stamped, No. 10 self-addressed envelope and to specify whether the tickets are for the 9:45 a.m. or the 1:45 p.m. train.
Beginning Friday, Oct. 26, tickets also will be for sale at the following Lisle locations: The Nook on Main Street, Lisle Savings Bank on Maple Avenue, the 7-Eleven, Main Street and Ogden Avenue, and the Safari Café in Green Shopping Center.
Tickets are limited. For information about The Polar Express, call the Lisle Convention and Visitors Bureau at (630) 769-1000 or (800) 733-9811, or visit StayInLisle.com, click on Visiting, then Polar Express.
The 10-car, double-decker Metra commuter train will re-create the trip enjoyed by the award-winning children’s book penned by Chris Van Allsburg.
“The entire trip to and from the North Pole (Chicago) will take about 75 minutes,” conductor Jack Kelly said. “The Polar Express will travel to the North Pole and immediately return to Lisle. No one will be able to get off The Polar Express. And please remember, The Polar Express always leaves exactly on time.”
The star of The Polar Express, of course, will be Santa Claus. Every child on board will be able to visit with Santa at least once during the trip. This year, five Santas will be on board the 10-car train.
A group of clowns will join Santa on board to entertain the children and pass out surprises, while costumed characters will pass through the train to greet the children. They will be joined by a host of community “elf” volunteers who will pass out candy treats, coloring pages and lead each car in the singing of Christmas carols.
Once at the North Pole, Santa’s elves will give the children their “First Gift of Christmas,” a bell cut from a reindeer’s harness that pulls Santa’s sleigh. Along with the bell will be a note from Santa, “Found this on the seat of my sleigh. Fix that hole in your pocket. Signed, Mr. C.,” just as in the book.
Volunteers will read the complete story of “The Polar Express” in each car.
The day won’t end with the completion of the train ride this year. The Lisle Heritage Society, in cooperation with the park district, is opening The Museums at Lisle Station Park for the annual Once Upon a Christmas celebration.
From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., children and their parents can visit with live reindeer, enjoy cookies and pieces of pie baked in a brick oven, watch a real blacksmith shop in operation, walk through a waycar (caboose) and enjoy a Christmas Trees from Around the World display and a giant operating HO gauge model railroad display. And, of course, they can visit with Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.
The Polar Express is operated by a group of volunteers dedicated to making the holiday season extra special for children. Members of the community are serving as elf volunteers and providing adult supervision.
To volunteer, call Wayne Dunham at (630) 963-4280.
An adult must accompany all children. Every passenger needs a ticket.