Features
All Aboard the Santa Train
Country singer Kathy Mattea will take a ride on this year’s Santa Train, an annual project that distributes tons of toys and gifts to thousands of people in Appalachia.
The Train, in its 66th trek through the region, will make 14 stops in Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee Nov. 22 and drop off 15 tons of presents along the way.
“Riding on the Santa Train gives me the opportunity to participate in the lives of the people I have been singing about on [latest album] Coal,” said Mattea, a native of West Virginia. “There is a sense of community here, and a sense of place like nowhere else; riding a train through the mountains and visiting with the folks will be the highlight of my Christmas this year.”
Photo: AP Photo
Past musical guests aboard the Santa Train have included Patty Loveless, Alison Krauss, Naomi Judd, Travis Tritt and Rebecca Lynn Howard.