A cheque in the amount of $4,000 was presented to Lynsay Rainey the Community Food Share Director of Operations on behalf of the CPKC Holiday Train. From left: CPKC master of ceremonies, North Stormont Mayor Francois Landry, Lynsay Rainey the Community Food Share Director of Operations, and CPKC train engineer Jeremy. Tinkess Photo

FINCH – An enormous crowd turned out to witness what has become a Christmas tradition in the village of Finch. The arrival of the CPKC Holiday train has in many ways become the official kick-off to the holiday season, as well as an extremely important fundraising event for Dundas-Stormont Community Food Share.

As the brightly decorated train pulled to a stop just north of the Finch arena shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 28, you could feel the anticipation in the air. The wise ones showed up early to grab a good parking spot as well as a front row view of the festivities, but people kept showing up well after the performances had begun. Every street surrounding the arena was filled with parked vehicles, and even County Road 43 had cars parked on both shoulders for nearly a half kilometre in both directions.

Once the train came to a halt, it was only a matter of minutes before the stage that forms the wall on one side of the rail car slowly opened and the show began and almost on cue, the snow which had been only flurries began to fall a bit harder.

The first performer was Teigen Gayse, an independent artist with back-to-back Top 30 radio singles and the support of 10 million global streams and 48 million Tik Tok views. She put on a lively performance with a mix of country and holiday tunes, before turning the stage over to the CPKC master of ceremonies, who spoke about what the Holiday Train really means.

“Welcome to the 2025 CPKC Holiday Train. This is our 27th year. Thank you so much for coming out. We’re stopping in nearly 200 communities across our network. We’re committed to helping those in need by raising food funds and awareness for hunger related issues. We’re promoting healthy donations. No matter the circumstance, everyone deserves access to healthy, nutritious food. Since 1999 amazing citizens like you guys have come out and donated over 5 million pounds of food and helped raise over $26 million dollars, all because of you. Give yourselves a round of applause!

“We’re so proud to be in Finch today raising food and funds for the Community Food Share,” he continued. “Remember everything raised local stays local, so make sure to drop off your donation. Please help me welcome some very special guests to the stage. Your Mayor, Frank (Francois Landry),  Food Bank rep Lynsay (Rainey) and the very engineer that drove us in today on this awesome train, Jeremy, with a cheque from us to the food bank in the amount of $4,000.”

Mayor Landry then added a few words. “Thank you, and welcome to beautiful North Stormont. For those that joined us today, I’d like to thank the CPKC holiday train, to make it stop in Finch. So, this is not just about music and lights, it’s also to look at people and help the people in need,” said Mayor Landry. “So, we do have the food bank and for those that brought canned goods, thank you very much. If you didn’t get a chance, every dollar count, there’s boxes out there, so please donate. I also want to thank our OPP, our firefighters and all the volunteers that help to bring all this together. So, Merry Christmas and thank you very much.

Lynsay Rainey the Community Food Share Director of Operations next spoke about the organization’s role. “Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for being here and supporting Community Food Share with your help,” said Rainey. “We serve over 8000 individuals across Dundas and Stormont counties. If you’re able to donate today, it truly makes a difference to local families. Thank you to the CPKC Holiday Train for bringing us together, and from all of us at Community Food Share,  happy holidays, and thank you for coming.”

And with that, the show returned to live music, this time performed by Jade Eagleson. He has been nominated for a JUNO award four times and recently earned the title of 2025 Male Artist of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards (CCMA). Although battling a cold, he had the audience fully engaged with a mix of country and songs of the season.

Much too soon, the performance ended and the stage folded up and the train pulled away, with stops scheduled for Merrickville and Smiths Falls later in the evening where undoubtably crowds will be waiting for their own boost of Christmas spirit as well as a boost to local food banks.