PALMDALE – Hundreds flocked to the Palmdale Transportation Center Sunday to meet and greet their favorite holiday characters. Palmdale was selected as one of the 32 stops on Metrolink’s fifteenth annual Holiday Toy Express Train celebration tour.
The festive train rolled into Palmdale around 5 p.m., Sunday, decorated with 50,000 twinkling, animated light displays. Squeals filled the air as Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, and several other friends from the North Pole came out to welcome the crowd.
The merry group led children and parents in singing several Christmas classics and also performed a musical show, which culminated in falling snow, to the amazement of several in the audience.
“It was fantastic,” said Palmdale resident Ernie Trujillo. “We brought six of our grandkids and we loved it.”
“I thought it was very good,” said 10-year-old Sierra from Lancaster. “I got to see Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.”
“I enjoyed the fact that it was family oriented and the fact that all the characters came down and greeted the children,” said Sierra’s grandmother, Yolanda Young. “That was really special.”
The event was also a chance for residents to donate new, unwrapped toys to underprivileged children. Local firefighters were on hand to collect the toys as part of the Spark of Love Toy Drive.
“This is very important,” said Young. “It teaches children that the spirit of Christmas is not just to receive but to give.”
Young’s granddaughter, Sierra, donated a tea set, while Trujillo donated two basketballs, one for a boy and one for a girl.
“We always try to donate,” said Trujillo. “My wife and I have been doing this for the last seven or eight years, going to all the toy drives and donating.”
By the end of the event, fire fighters had stuffed 12 large bags with toys to be donated to the Spark of Love Toy Drive. Toys will be distributed locally to under-served children in the community.
For more pictures of this event, visit our facebook page.
