Toys for Tots Train chugs into Bainbridge this weekend

BAINBRIDGE – The Toys for Tots Christmas Train will be chugging to a stop at the Walnut Street Crossing, 12:05 p.m. Saturday in Bainbridge. Train organizers from the Marine Corps League in the Albany area, will combine their military precision with their charitable spirit to bring bag fulls of toys to organizations in the Chenango and tri-county region.

Canadian Pacific Railway transports the Marines and their precious cargo across the state. The annual expedition used to be the responsibility of the Fox Company reservists, but budget cuts have meant a reshuffling of Marines and Fox Company has relocated out of state.

“We’ve been taking the brunt of it,” laughed Bob Becker of the Marine Corps League, who, along with his fraternity of retired Marines hailing from the capital region have taken up the reins of the New York State Toys for Tots program. Becker has been involved with the state’s Toys for Tots program for 45 years while the Marine Corps League as an organization joined him some 25 years ago.

The Christmas Train will be hauling somewhere between 6,000 to 7,000 toys, to be disseminated throughout the state from its six different stops between Binghamton and Delanson. On Saturday, Canadian Pacific will be making a quick stop in Binghamton to hand over some of their cache to organizations in Broom County, before making its way up to Bainbridge.

Counties without their own local Toys for Tots organizations can make requests for toys from Albany and have their businesses and organizations distribute the toys.

“We try to bring toys to places which are hard to service,” said Becker, refering to the train stops made in regions devoid of local Toys for Tots groups.

Story Continues Below Adverts

The train’s stop in Bainbridge though has grown into an affair much more grandiose than a simple handoff.

“Around 300 to 400 people usually attend each year,” said Chenango County Toys for Tots organizer Roger Barnhart. Attendees will be able to treat themselves to cookies and hot cocoa, supplied by the Rotary and Lions Club. The American Legion will be present to collect old and unserviceable flags. “They usually get a lot because it’s right after Pearl Harbor Day,” he said. Dr. Michelle Gifford will also have a table set up filled with dental hygiene party favors, such as tooth brushes.