 This is Dennis McMahon and welcome to Positively Vermont. Today we're going to be exploring the Essex Junction Train Hop and Tree Lighting, a very interesting event that's taking place in Essex Junction, Vermont. And with us to discuss it is Darby Mayville, the Community Relations and Economic Development Assistant for the Village of Essex Junction. Welcome Darby. Thank you for having me. And Kirsten Santor, the Program Director and Community Relations person from the Essex Junction Recreation and Parks Department. Glad to be here. Excellent. Welcome to Positively Vermont. And before we get into the events, tell us a little bit about, if you would, the village or the town or the area of Essex Junction, Vermont, where it's located, this program goes at various parts of the state and maybe a little bit of the history and geography and points of interest. Sure. Well, Essex Junction is located in Chittenden County, north-central Chittenden County. We have about 10,000 residents in just under six square miles, so it's a very compact village. We have a famous intersection called Five Corners where five major roots intersect, and that is going to be the heart of where this event is. And tell us about the little railroad background to the place. Sure. Well, we do have the busiest train station in the state of Vermont in Essex Junction, and railroad has always been a significant part of our history. So it seemed like a natural choice to bring in trains and the concept of a train hop. And let's be honest, who doesn't love a train? And the place has been known as a major over the course of possibly 150 years, an intersection for all the, when railroads were very, very big, a great hub, I guess, for Vermont. That's how we got the name Essex Junction. That's great. That's fantastic. Well, before we get into details, tell us a little bit about yourself, Darby. Sure. My name is Darby Mayville. I've been working for the village for a little over six years now. I live in Essex with my husband and my son, and I came to Vermont by way of Connecticut because I wanted to go to UVM, and I met my husband there, and here we are. That's great. Kirsten, tell us a little bit about yourself. Yeah, I am new to the Chittenden County area, but I did grow up in Rochester, Vermont, so familiar with Vermont as a whole. And I lived over at Upstate New York for quite a while with my fiance at the time, and then we just got married and came back over. I've been working for Essex Junction Rec and Parks for just over a year and a half now, and I love being back in Vermont. That's great. We have various departments working on this, and I understand there's a number of volunteers we are going to hear about, and working with you is a John Gorekki. Yes. Tell us about John. So John has been with the train hop since its inception. John is a model train aficionado. He works year-round constructing tracks, working on different trains, and making sure that each location has the perfect model train. In fact, a couple years back, I brought him this old train set from the 1930s that needed a lot of TLC, and he worked on it dedicatedly for a few months, and it was been running at the train hop ever since. That's great. Well, this is going to be December the 8th, and it's starting at 6 o'clock, I take it. What's going to happen on the Sunday? Tell us all the events that's going to happen, and where? So the first thing that's going to kick off the evening is the tree lighting, Village Tree Lighting, which will happen around 6.00, 6.15, and that will be, like Darby said, right in five corners. And then right at 6.00, all of these businesses that are hosting model trains will also be opening. So from 6.00 to 8.00, you can kind of go to different businesses that are participating both on Main Street and Railroad Ave and visit them and see their model train. Hopefully everyone will have a model train on display, both some that we provide and then some get really into it and provide their own. They'll be a little goody to take home, train or holiday related, and then hopefully some cookies or some different drinks, hot chocolates, that kind of thing. So the festive holiday type mood will also be expanding the Maple Street Park performance because we have the trees lighting in the park, which is the whole park lit up with different trees lit up, and then also the Christmas music will be playing and we'll have a trackless train running through the park that you can ride on. And there'll be a trolley that takes people from the downtown center five corners to the park and then back again. So you don't even have to worry about parking in either place. You can just catch the trolley. That's great. And the lights in the park are absolutely amazing. I went last year and I was floored by how beautiful it was. And they are not a one night only thing. They happen from the day after Thanksgiving until January 1st. So those will be available all season. The tree itself is located where? We have two, so the lighting will be right at the five corners area. Is that where the veterans place is? Yeah, right in that area and the front lawn of Lincoln Hall. Okay, that's great. And there's going to be any singing or anything going on with that? Yeah, there should be some school choruses leading a song and of course Santa will be there. Oh, that's great. And each person, there's like a little ticket that they get. Tell us how that works. Yeah, so there'll be a train map and ticket kind of combined into one so it'll show what businesses are participating and have a spot where you can collect a stamp from each of the different participating businesses or organizations. And then they'll also, we'll have some information on what each business is doing, what train is there maybe. And just going to give you an overview of what the layout is because at six o'clock on December Friday, it's going to be a little dark. So we want to give an idea of what's happening as best we can so people can take full advantage of it. Are they going to go on a group or people can just go individually to different locations? Last year was my first time experience at the train hop and I did see a lot of family groups going together, but maybe... Yeah, however you'd like to do it is fine. You know, it is more fun with a group but I think that one or two people on their own would have a great time anyway. Tell us about these conductors. Sure, so it's a volunteer position. We've had state reps, we've had village trustees. You'll see them wearing their big hats and they're there to greet people, provide information, stamp tickets, just generally be hosts and hostesses of our event. That's great. And what about music for this? Is there going to be any musical performances while this goes on? I would guess that each individual business will be having some kind of holiday-themed music. I know we do at the park, but otherwise there's not a specific spot where people are performing but anybody's welcome to bring in, come in and you have performers at their spot. So I understand this year you have a new trolley, another trolley, an additional trolley? Yes. Tell us about that. We have an additional trackless railroad, which is something that you can ride on as a family. So it's a little motor in the front and they go around various parts, they'll have a route. There's going to be one near the fire station right in downtown and then also one at the park going through on the pathways as long as there's not too much snow through the light of trees. There's going to be weather permitting I take. The event itself will happen weather regardless. We have found obviously better participation with better weather, but overall it will happen even if it is snowing and it's honestly a lot, I think it's kind of more fun if it's snowing. It adds something. The whole place is just starting to get a great buzz on for this. The posters are out, it's a very nice poster, very nice designs. Thank you. Tell us about what types of businesses, if you know what any of the businesses are going to be doing at this point. It's coming about two weeks away, but if you know any specific businesses that are going to be doing something special, are there specials involved with this or discounts or things of that nature? Yes, we definitely encourage businesses to provide some kind of discount, whether it's a food type thing. We have a few restaurant partners and then some local organizations and just some of the businesses that line those particular roads. We're not looking for a specific type of business, it's really just locale. So making sure that you're within the five corners area. But I know Darby has a better handle on which trains go where because there are some specific trains that are really popular that go to different businesses. Tell us about that. Sure. We have had some trains that have really grown with the location. For example, we have a local lawyer's office who's participated for many years and every single year they have the John Deere train in their location and they love that train, they decorate it, they do all kinds of things with that and that's their train. So it's really wonderful to see certain locations really hitch on to different trains and I know you were asking about specials. In the past we don't want to give away to things too early but in the past we have had specials at many different village businesses. For example, Nepali Kitchen, Essex Grill have always offered pretty significant discounts for train hoppers so that may be another reason to come by and have some dinner. And after the thing as well. Yes, exactly. What law firm is doing that? Unsworth and Bara I believe is the name. Right, right near the railroad itself. Exactly right across the street from the station. That's a very exciting area in Christastom. I know there's one Amtrak train comes in at night and it's kind of exciting when that comes in, you know. But that railroad itself, I know there's a little bit of an exhibit there at the station. Is anything going to be happening there at this point? As far as the Glaston area, that actually used to have an ATM in it and right now it's used as an access area for storage. I did see a little track setup. Well maybe I'm imagining it. It's a brilliant world of imagination. When you hear that whistle, woe, unless people get off at night and the snow is going down, it's fantastic. It is. What about participation by schools? Anything going on with the schools? Nothing specific. Most of the people that we see coming through are local families that have lots of kids in the schools and will be doing a special flyer home with school kids to promote with the families. It is a family winter event. We're just trying to provide an opportunity for people to come out and celebrate community both good for themselves and good for the businesses. Organizing this, how many people are involved right now in this? Well, kind of one at a time. Darby was really the head hon show for the past couple of years and she's helping me pick up the pieces now and it's really just a, we'll say a one woman show. So you need volunteers? Yes, volunteers are great to have. Most of the businesses have been really wonderful about stepping up and wanting to provide their own volunteers or conductors as we call them in this case but we are definitely looking for more people too if anybody's interested in volunteering. That's great. It's like a really wonderful opportunity and when is Santa going to arrive? Santa should arrive at six o'clock and he'll be hanging out until eight o'clock so get your wishes in. That's great and we'll be available for visits so we'll just be walking around. Certainly, but there does get to be a long line. Really? Yes, but he's a patient man. Where is he going to be? He'll be upstairs in the teen center. Oh, okay, that's great. And that's near the fire station? Yes, so that's right next door to the fire station and actually speaking of the fire station Santa is going to be at the fire station the weekend before on December 2nd. So he's going to arrive by fire truck at ten a.m. that morning in case anyone's interested in seeing him again. That's great. Tell us about last year, how was it last year? How many people have participated? You know, it's always difficult to tell Dennis because there's not really any one way of counting people. I'd estimate somewhere between 1,000 and 3,000. Last year was bitter cold. The year before that was beautiful. It was probably 50s, 60s and we had probably closer to 3,000 people that year. So it's really weather dependent but it's a great time either way. It sounds that way and it sounds like a tremendous atmospheric type of thing. This show gets around in various parts of the state so if anybody watches it we're going to post the information about the town and where to get some information about the train hop and unfortunately it's early enough that they can get some more information about it. Exactly. And I guess how many people were involved in the initial ones over the years? Whose idea was this? So this idea was brought up by a group of community volunteers I'm thinking nine years ago possibly even ten and they saw that S-Extension there were a lot of vacant store fronts an increase in crime things were really not going as well as they are now so there were people who were working to get people into S-Extension and really get people out at night so that was the vision for the train hop. So there's been a lot of I know there's some other groups in the town working on those aspects so there's a lot of coordination with that. Oh definitely. And it's a good chance to get everybody involved at a very festive time. Exactly. And tourism potential is very interesting too and all the stuff you can see there and that sort of a way station to read when people post on the Facebook pages to see where they're from people seem to I noticed people were coming from Rutland from Highgate really all over the place last year. And you have a Facebook page we're going to post that and there's information about that and people can also volunteer and contribute that way I suppose. Exactly. That's great. And other than volunteers is there any type of support that's going on for this of the town and village? Anybody contributions running like that how does that work? It's more of a participation based contribution I would say so we're happy to have lots of places contribute their time and opening their doors maybe at a time when they wouldn't essentially have been open that's really the biggest contribution for us I would say. And there are also new businesses in the last year I've seen opening up there. So this is going to be a great opportunity for them to show their stuff. Exactly. Get some people in there see what they're made of. Now this is going to be a few weeks away if there are businesses there are people who want to somehow network with this is there going to be time and space available for this? Yeah we're trying to be pretty flexible and keep it open to whoever wants to participate so if there's somebody that wants to participate a business organization that feels like they're ready to go we're happy to entertain that and figure out a space for them to be in or if they're able to open their own space that's great too. It is not limited to having a physical storefront which is the great part I don't know if that's something you implemented or not but there are some organizations that are coming in that are such as Suncommon and VSAC and they're coming in and they're going to have just a space to present some stuff but they're community partners so it definitely fits within our whole theme. And there's going to be like kiosks groups in any one particular area just where they can set it up. We typically have them set up in the town offices, right? Yep, or the village offices. Sorry, Lincoln Street. The office is going to be open too as well? Yeah, well they won't be open for water payments and things like that but they will be opening their doors. That's great. That is fantastic. So it's going to be a very, what about the police department? Are they doing anything special? Well, the police are going to be there to ensure safety but they're just a little too far to be walkable. Right, and this, if you wanted to cover the whole thing how much territory is going to be embraced from the edge of it to the end of it? Probably about four blocks or so. It's not terribly big. The biggest checkout would be to Mabel Street Park and again there was a trolley on 4th. So yeah, four blocks probably walking distance and then you can also take the trolley and go walk around the park so maybe a little bit more. That's great. As much or as little as you want to do, which is nice. Anything going on at the library? Oh yes. Brown L Library. So Brown L Library has really been the focal point of this event. Brown L Library, I've been in there some years where I've had trouble getting through that door. It is packed. They have goodies. They've had in the past Lego train. They had a cake train last year which was fabulous but not too many people saw it because it got eaten so quickly. So Brown L has really been the hub of activities for the train hop. I think you were asking, how did they find out about this? It was posted in the library. I think they might have had a little exhibit there. They have little train exhibits once in a while there too. And they put down a masking tape train to show people where to go through and to generate excitement before the train hop. That's great. And that's the Brown L Library. That's correct. Which is right across the street from the train station or the bus station. Or it's right next door to the village offices. Exactly. They're every day, I just can't remember giving verbally. It's that place there. That is fantastic. Any other community established organizations? You have the parks, you have the police, you have the fire and any other hospitals I don't like that. I'm getting involved. I know again it's early. You're probably going to get people once they see this additional volunteering. Essex Chips is pretty well involved. I'm trying to think of other good partner organizations. The library is huge. They're massive. Like Kirsten was saying we've had a number of community partners come out to have kiosks. Last year we had United Way, YWCA, Sun Common. So we really have really done a really good job of bringing in different aspects of the community to this event. Was there like a ticket booth somewhere? Something like that. I remember that from last year. Like a little booth. We did have an info booth set up, yes. Is that going to be happening again? Yes. And that will be right on the Brown L Library. So kind of central to the hub. Right in front where the lawn is. Which is right near the bus station. Exactly. Nice and easy. It's like the easiest place to get to. And you can even walk to it if you want. It's just fantastic. That's great. This really sounds exciting. It's going to be on December the 8th. I'd just like to give each of you an opportunity to sum up and address our viewers about the event or just anything you'd like to say. I think we're closing. This event is a lot of fun. And what I'd really like to tell people is to make sure that they come out rain or shine. No matter what, you'll have a great time. And there's always new things every single year. So even if you've been last year, it'll be just a little bit different and just a little more exciting for you this year. I'd like to take a minute to describe the event as it was described to me that really resonated with me. Something that you would have seen when there was more department stores and everybody had this really festive holiday decorations in their storefront window and you would see the kids' faces pressed against the glass watching that model train. We're trying to recreate that feeling. So if you resonate with that, definitely come by and see the different model trains, get some goodies and have a good time. That sounds really great. That's a very good description of it. Well, this has been Dennis McMahon and Mabel and Kirsten Santor talking about the Essex Junction train hop and tree lighting coming up in beautiful Essex Junction Vermont. Thank you for watching Positively Vermont.