Polar Express brings Santa to Conneaut

CONNEAUT – The magic of Christmas was sprinkled on the children of Conneaut.
As train horns blared and train cars clacked in the background, children climbed aboard the caboose at the Conneaut Historical Railroad Museum for a visit with Santa Claus during the Polar Express event sponsored by the Christkindl Market Festival Committee.
The Polar Express event afforded children the opportunity to visit Santa in a one-on-one situation where they received a golden ticket and a believe bell on Saturday, Dec. 13.
“(Visiting Santa one-on-one) means, a lot, actually, to the kids, because as soon as I say that ‘Santa Claus is in the caboose, don’t forget to go into the caboose,’ they get excited,” Polar Express organizer Amber Joslin said. “(I’ve been telling them because) I don’t want people to be like, ‘Well, where the heck is he?’ The kids are like, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s on the train!’ It’s immediate. Because it’s the Polar Express, the biggest key symbol we want is Santa, who will be in the caboose.”
Aside from the believe bells and golden tickets, each attendee could also take a train ornament, key chains and train activity books. Attendees could also enjoy free popcorn and hot chocolate. Children could color ornaments or pictures and Tasha’s Cotton Candy was also in attendance. A balloon arch and Christmas backdrop for pictures was provided by B.J. Riggs of Lasting Impressions.
The “believe bells” are a treasure children are happy to receive.
“I started that last year because it’s in the movie where they give the believe bells,” Joslin said. “At the very end of the movie, the little kid wanted to have one of the sleigh bells, and that’s just kind of a symbolic piece of the Polar Express, a sleigh bell. I did them last year, and they were a huge hit, so I just reordered them again and put the year on them so that it just makes it a little more personable. They’re getting golden tickets as well.”
After the two-day 2024 event became a bit overwhelming, Joslin and the planning committee decided to limit sales and confine the event to four hours on a single day.
“I did that on purpose because we sold 500 tickets the first year,” Joslin said. “This year, I cut it off at 250. I tried to spread it out over four hours.”
“The first year, when I posted them on sale on Nov. 1, and we did 500 tickets up front, they sold out in one day, then on Dec. 1, I was like, let’s sell a little bit more,” Joslin continued. “And I think I posted another 200 for sale, and those sold out. We did like 700 tickets, but that was for both days, Friday and Saturday, and it was hectic. It was great. We did those time slots, but it’s just a lot, and it’s a lot because we also do the Christkindl Market Festival, so we decided to shrink it down to one day and limited hours. With that, I was going to shrink down the attendance, as well.”
Even with the limitations, the event was a hit with the community in just its second year.
“Last year, there was really a damper with that huge snowstorm, but even now, I mean, we’re not getting a snowstorm,” Joslin said. “It’s a small little blizzard, but I’m telling you, people still want to get out. It’s insane. You want to find something to do as a family, not just to a restaurant, instead of driving all the way to Cleveland or Erie to do something. It’s happening right here in the community.”
Joslin enjoyed seeing the children have a good time.
“The whole reason why I do all of this is the kids in the community, and it’s just something fun to do,” Joslin said. “It’s blizzarding out, and you still almost want to get out of the house. It’s just a weird thing that people wanted, and same with the festival.”
Joslin was grateful for the assistance of the Christkindl Market Festival Committee and the volunteers who made the event happen.
“It makes me happy,” Joslin said. “I’m proud of myself, in general, just for how far it’s come. It takes a whole team and it’s very overwhelming and very stressful. It’s hard, as the person who runs it, to be calm and collected at the same time, but it works. We have volunteers who come. It’s so nice. It’s good that we get high schoolers and kids and teenagers to come in and help, because it does help with the community.”