'Phenomenal turnout' for Westmoreland Toys for Tots Train
Lindsay Fails made a special 35-mile trip from Indiana County to the Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad line next to Greengate Centre in Hempfield on Saturday afternoon just so she could contribute to the holiday cheer of a child in need.
She donated a gift to the Westmoreland County Marine Toys for Tots Train.
“This is the first time we did this,” said Fails, of Clarksburg. “We decided it was a neat thing to do.”
She brought along her great nephew, 4-year-old Elliott Kundrod, who got to sit in one of the six small rail-car cabs that formed the caravan that traveled some 40 miles.
The tiny train went from East Huntingdon to Mt. Pleasant to Everson to Scottdale, Ruffs Dale, Hunker, Youngwood and the Radebaugh section of the rail line, collecting unwrapped holiday gifts and cash donations as it went from hundreds of donors.
“It’s been a great turnout. It’s been phenomenal. This is the best one yet,” said John Gonder, the organizer of the fifth annual Westmoreland Marine Toys for Tots train. The train is operated by members of the North American Railcar Operators Association who own their own cars, said Armand Adams of Washington’s Crossing, Bucks County.
He packed his self-propelled battery-powered rail car in a trailer and hauled it about 300 miles to participate.
Despite the covid-19 pandemic and the increase in coronavirus cases in the region, “the people are really coming out” to donate, Gonder said at the Scottdale stop.
“It’s way better than we expected,” said Gonder, a Ruffs Dale resident.
Two more donors, David and Chanda Sciulli of Herminie, “always try to make it” to donate at the Toys for Tots Train.
“The kids really enjoy it,” Sciulli said of son Conner and daughters Kinsley and Cadence.
One of the youngest visitors to the Toys for Tots Train was 7-week-old Helen Thurston, who was sleeping in the arms of her father, Dave, while being photographed at the Scottdale stop by her mother, Emily. The Hempfield couple has an affinity for trains because Dave’s father works for the Canadian Pacific Railroad, after working for Norfolk Southern Corp.
Brian and Jane Davis, member of the Railcar Operators Association, drove all the way from Ravenna, Ohio, some 125 miles, to help with the Toys for Tots program.
Toys for Tots volunteers filled sport utility vehicles with boxes of gifts that had filled the rail-car cabs at the stop near the Greengate Centre. Gonder said Sunday the efforts resulted in more than 2,000 toys collected and more than $3,000 in cash donations. The group has collected 3,100 toys and $14,562 since the event began in 2016, said Gonder, a Railcar Operators Association member.
Toys for Tots collections boxes also have been placed in various stores. The local Marine Toys for Tots program won’t know until the end of November how many children are in need of toys this year, local coordinating officer Doug Hurst said.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
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