To spread holiday happiness and collect contributions for local food banks, the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will visit over two dozen cities in Minnesota, including Cottage Grove, where it will celebrate its 20th year.
Music by Alan Doyle and Kelly Prescott will be provided free of charge aboard the Holiday Train as it travels through the Twin Cities on December 11-13. The train is roughly 1,000 feet long and has 14 festively painted rail carriages.
The train will make a stop in Cottage Grove on 12/12 at 5:00 PM at West Point Douglas Road, just south of the Sieben Bridge, in front of the Youth Service Bureau. There will be free hot chocolate and coffee, visits with Santa, and food trucks beginning at 3:30 p.m. Merchandise will also be sold, with a portion of the earnings going to support the Friends in Need Food Shelf.
The city of Cottage Grove reports that $146,074 was raised during the annual Holiday Train event in 2017, accounting for 25% of the total contributions to the food shelf.
Hastings CP Depot, December 11th, 8:00 p.m.
The Cottage Grove Youth Service Bureau event will begin at 5 p.m. on December 12; the St. Paul Union Depot event will begin at 7 p.m., with refreshments, shopping, and prizes starting at 5 p.m. Union Depot is offering VIP seats for the next show.
On the 13th of December, the times in Golden Valley (4:45 pm; Golden Hills Drive), St. Louis Park (6:00 pm; West Lake Street and Library Lane), and Columbia Heights are as follows: (Lions Park).
Tickets to see the Holiday Train are available at no cost. Guests are requested to bring either food, toiletries, or monetary gifts.
