Published: April 24, 2007 12:50 pm            

MEDINA RAILROAD MUSEUM: Employees prepare to welcome Thomas the Tank Engine

MEDINA — Employees at the Medina Railroad Museum are tediously working to prepare for the well-known and now annual coming of Thomas the Tank Engine.

For the third year, shipments of Thomas gear continue to arrive on a daily basis, as a staff of 10 moves from task to task, laboring long hours in a hurried frenzy to ready for the thousands that will soon take over the quaint and normally quiet Village of Medina during the first two weekends in May.

Linda Klein, promotions director at the museum, said it’s all part of the deal — a situation they are more than happy to contend with when the final result comes to fruition and a flurry of happy children and their families travel far and wide for “A Day Out With Thomas.”

“We’ve been working every night until midnight,” Klein said. “But the real work begins now that the weather is better. Now we have to get serious about cleaning outside, planting flowers and setting up the tents.”

On Thursday, some tended to updating the latest displays of model trains inside the impressive museum, while others carried boxes and made phone calls to vendors. Beverly Dickerson was organizing thousands of Thomas coloring sheets after she made her daily trek from Barker.

along with her husband.

Dickerson co-manages the popular “Imagination Station,” an area setup alongside the museum for children with hands-on activities.

“My husband and I both grew up next to trains,” she said. “So we have a sort of natural love for them.”

Klein said the torrid pace she and other employees’ have been maintaining will persist right up until Thomas rolls into town on May 4, when 125 volunteers will come to assist the crew in catering to the 25,000 people expected for the event.

“It’s simply just long hours to prepare for everything,” Klein said. “But it’s so much fun.”

Contact reporter Michael Regan at (585) 798-1400, ext. 2226.

        

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