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Ricky Skaggs Talks Serving on 75th Annual Santa Train
Santa Train
Over the weekend, country and bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs experienced something of a blast from his past.
The Grand
Ole Opry stalwart served as the celebrity guest for the
75th anniversary run of the Santa Train, an annual event that provides
Christmas cheer for many in the coal mining areas of Kentucky,
Virginia and Tennessee. As part of his duties, the singer threw out
plush toys to the thousands of people that lined the route of the Santa
Train, while volunteers on the ground handed out toys, coats, candy, and
wrapping paper. Skaggs tells Billboard the faces surely looked a bit familiar to him.
“I
saw eastern Kentucky,” says the singer, who grew up in nearby Cordell.
“I will tell you what else I saw. When I went to Belfast and Dublin, I
saw people that looked like my kin. The first time I went over there
with Emmylou [Harris] back in 1978, I just remember seeing the Irish
people, and by the looks on their faces, I could have been in
Paintsville. I could have been in Pikeville or St. Paul. The
Scotch-Irish DNA is so strong here, musically and here in the mountains.
I saw history. I saw my upbringing. I saw years of music.”
Skaggs
says that the economic hardships that many in the area endure is
something he also knows all too well. “It’s been really amazing to see
the people that I grew up around. It’s coming home. We saw it a lot.
When my dad was disabled to work -- he messed his back up real bad in an
accident as a welder. I remember well us going to the grocery store and
buying food on credit, and running up a long tab. He was waiting to get
his government compensation because he was on a government job. He
fought to get that.
"I remember what it was like having two pairs
of pants to wear to school in a week," he continues. "Mama had to wash
one every day. I had one pair of shoes. I remember that -- literally. We
never felt like we were poor because there was always people a lot
worse than we were. That’s what mama would tell us.”
The Santa Train -- a partnership of CSX, Food City, Appalachian
Power, Soles4Souls and the Kingsport (TN) Chamber of Commerce -- is one
of Appalachia’s most anticipated holiday traditions. The train leaves
Pikeville, Kentucky early on the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving and
makes stops throughout the day in towns such as Elkhorn City,
Kentucky, and St. Paul, Virginia, before winding up the day in Kingsport
with a concert performance from the celebrity guest -- which in the
past has included names such as Patty Loveless, Darryl Worley, and Amy
Grant.
Hundreds of volunteers give of their time to ensure that
the day is a success. From packing bags to handing out gifts at the
stops, the Santa Train started out in 1943 as a gift of gratitude from
the merchants of Kingsport to the people of Appalachia. And, according
to the Kingsport Chamber’s Amy Margaret McColl -- who also serves as
marketing manager for Visit Kingsport -- that legacy remains in place
today. While the event seemingly runs like clockwork on the day of the
train ride, transporting Kris Kringle, a celebrity guest, and the
presents handed out -- estimated at seventeen tons' worth -- takes a
great deal of organizing.
“There are months and months of planning that go into an operation of this size,” McColl tells Billboard.
“We work side by side with our sponsors early on to plan the logistics
and the details.” She adds that the event brings out a variety of people
-- for many different reasons. “We’ve been using the term lately,
‘Santa Train Sentimentalist.’ You’ve got your train enthusiasts, who are
here for the locomotive and the train itself, and they are the ones
that have been here for years -- the grandparents who came as children,
brought their children, and now are bringing their grandchildren. It’s
so much fun to see not only the joy in the children’s face, but these
grandparents who are watching. You can see the happiness in their faces
with all the memories that it brings back.”
While CSX and Food
City have been integral cogs in the Santa Train wheel for years, the
event continues to add new sponsors, such as Appalachian Power and
Soles4Souls. According to the latter’s Buddy Teaster, who serves as
president and CEO, it’s an event that he is very excited for his team to
be a part of -- though it does remind him that things need to be done
to establish economic development in the area.
“It’s a sobering
moment," explains Teaster. "I know it’s easy to say, ‘I feel blessed,’
or, ‘This makes me grateful for all I have,’ and all of that is true.
But it’s also recognition that we need to go deeper than that... There
also needs to be a much deeper commitment to making a difference." He
also offers that the experience of seeing the pure joy on the children's
faces during the stops was something he won’t forget.
And neither
will Skaggs. The performer says he enjoyed the experience of going home
to Eastern Kentucky, though after a day of throwing out the plush toys
from the back of the train with Santa, he said he doesn’t plan on trying
out for a QB position with a football team anytime soon.
“My arm
is as sore it can be. If I could tie a rock on the end of my arm, maybe I
could get a little more distance," he says with a laugh. There’s not
going to be any Ricky Skaggs, quarterback -- not with these two rotator
cuffs."
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