“All aboard!” yelled the eager elves as the Polar Express pulled out of Scituate’s Greenbush Station on Sunday, December 11th. Based on the popular book and movie, Scituate’s version of The Polar Express has been entertaining local children for over 11 years. All of the proceeds from this community event go to the Scituate CORSE Foundation and SHORE, Scituate High School Opportunities and Resources for Education. The day-long event is run by both of the foundations and relies on student and parent volunteers to make the day run smoothly.

Throughout the day, four different train rides feature holiday helpers reading the Polar Express book while elves are serving milk, cookies, and candy canes. Singing Christmas carols is another favorite activity–along with meeting Rudolph, Frosty, the Gingerbread Man, Mr. Polar Bear, and most importantly Mrs. Claus and Santa himself.

Over 3,000 people from all over Massachusetts and other states boarded the trains. Over 200 volunteers worked as elves, train captions, characters, and platform crew. Excited children in their pajamas filled the parking lot as they were greeted by North Pole characters. All the high school student volunteers worked hard to give each child a magical experience. Whether it was singing Christmas carols, giving out cookies, or reading the Polar Express book, the children were thrilled to see “real elves.” After a 60 minute ride to The North Pole and back, every child was sugared up on Christmas joy.