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The embers of nostalgia burned brightly on a cold night in December as a sizable crowd came out to the Southampton Heritage Village/Agriculture & Forestry Museum in Courtland to enjoy the annual Nostalgic Christmas Polar Express event.

Denise Wlodyka, who was chairperson of the Dec. 7 event, said, “It was wonderful, it was magical. We got a lot of great feedback from people. It’s all about the community and the kids, and the kids just had a wonderful time. 

“I think we had a good crowd, but there were no long lines, which made it good,” she continued. “Kids got to ride the train and see Santa and do all the fun stuff even though it was really cold.”

She granted that the chilly weather probably kept a few families from attending the event, which ran from 4-7 p.m., but she added that “we had over 700 people brave the cold and come out, so it was still a good night.”

She noted that the purpose of the Nostalgic Christmas Polar Express event is to do something for the community and also to “pay it forward.” She shared some examples of what this means.

“To get in the gate, you can either pay your $2 or you can donate a food item that goes to the Bags of Hope, the local food bank here that’s operated out of a couple churches in Southampton County,” she said. “Then we have the Sedley (Baptist Church) youth group running our concession stand and taking in any profits that they make so that they can put that money toward doing a mission trip or one of their other activities that they do for charitable reasons.

“And then the other thing that ties into it is Mr. and Mrs. Claus that come every year, they’re actually out of Suffolk, we do give them a monetary donation for coming, but they don’t keep it,” she added. “They go out and buy gift cards and then they go to the hospitals, and they give out Starbucks gift cards to the hospital workers on Christmas Eve that are working.

“So there’s a whole bunch of stuff going on that’s just supporting the community and supporting other people that are in need or doing things to help others over the holiday season, so it’s all good stuff,” she said.

Addressing the popular features of this year’s event, Wlodyka observed that every feature tends to get equal attention.

“The fire barrels were quite popular this year because it was cold, so they were a nice touch,” she said. “We did have I think four different fire barrels around where you could warm up as you walked around.

“The train ride around the village is always a hit, and of course Santa is always a hit, and our model trains inside (the museum) are a huge draw, people just love to see those,” she added.

She also noted that the nativity scene, including live animals provided by Lynda Updike, garnered significant attention from attendees.

“Everything that’s out there, I think the people tend to enjoy it,” Wlodyka said. 

She said organizers hope the event gets people interested in the museum so they will come back and visit.