Thousands turned out to see the Barenaked Ladies perform in Maple Ridge on the 27th annual CPKC Holiday Train.
The train arrived at 7:50 p.m. at the Port Haney West Coast Express to the delight of many.
Each car was decked-out in holiday lights with winter scenes of Christmas trees, people playing hockey, and mountains.
Then the main stage lowered and Ed Robertson, lead singer of Barenaked Ladies appeared, greeting the residents of Maple Ridge and started the concert off with their unique version of “Jingle Bells”.
The group that included Robertson’s own son Lyle, who took the place of Jim Creeggan, who couldn’t make it, along with Kevin Hearn, and Tyler Stewart, belted out some classic Barenaked Ladies tunes as well including “If I Had $1,000,000” and the theme song to the “Big Bang Theory”.
Before the train arrived there was plenty of action taking place along River Road including: crafts for children, music, and hot chocolate.
Volunteers, including firefighters with Maple Ridge Fire and Rescue, were collecting non-perishable and cash donations for the Friends In Need Food Bank.
On stage Maple Ridge firefighters announced they raised $20,000 which they were splitting between the Friends In Need Food Bank and the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Christmas Hamper Society.
CPKC announced it was donating $7,000 to the local food bank.
The CPKC Holiday Train has been visiting communities across Canada and the United States throughout November and December, raising food, money, and awareness for local food banks and food pantry organizations. There are two trains, one that primarily travels across Canada and the other primarily travels across the U.S.
Since its inaugural journey in 1999, the CPKC Holiday Train has raised more than $26 million and collected approximately 5.4 million pounds of food for community food banks in Canada and the U.S.
• More to come on Monday including more photos, video, and amounts raised in Pitt Meadows.