{"id":37147,"date":"2022-11-22T11:45:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T18:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/foster-families-climb-aboard-the-polar-express\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:35:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:35:38","slug":"foster-families-climb-aboard-the-polar-express","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/foster-families-climb-aboard-the-polar-express\/","title":{"rendered":"Foster families climb aboard the Polar Express"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad donated a car to the La Plata County Department of Human Services for foster families to ride the Polar Express. From left, Phelia Smith, Preston Smith, Lilly, 14, Hannah, Tyler, 4, Blake, Sabrina Delaney, Alfred Romero, Haylee Spurgeon, 17, and Brian Spurgeon, 15, get ready to board the Polar Express on Thursday at the Railroad Depot. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The puff of steam billowing from the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad only added to the excitement Thursday night as orchestral Christmas music blanketed the platform.<\/p>\n

Among the several hundred people gathered for the opening preview of the D&SNG\u2019s Polar Express ride were several of La Plata County\u2019s foster families, all huddled together to stay warm.<\/p>\n

Hannah and Blake, who asked that their last names not be used, were there with their three children \u2013 one biological (Tyler, 4), one adopted (Lilly, 14), and one in the foster system. Two of Lilly\u2019s siblings, Brian Spurgeon, 15, and Haylee Spurgeon, 17, were also in attendance. Their adoptive mother, Joy Larson, could not attend, although their biological grandmother, Sabrina Delaney and her partner Alfred Romero, did. Hannah\u2019s parents, Phelia and Preston Smith, were there as well.<\/p>\n

While everyone there has endured the hardship of the foster system in some way or another, the gaggle of kids huddled around their grandparents, parents and each other appeared anything but downtrodden.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s truly just become one big family,\u201d Preston Smith said of the network of people spread across the platform. \u201cI don\u2019t see differences in blood and non-blood. It\u2019s just family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The La Plata County Department of Human Services arranges for the railroad to donate a rail car on the Polar Express each year for families involved with the foster system.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust having that chance to do something as a family that\u2019s something fun and can be department related (can change the kids\u2019 opinion) so they aren\u2019t like, \u2018The department just sucks,\u2019\u201d Hannah said. \u201cBecause for them, Human Services is the bad guys. For them to be like, \u2018Oh they gave us free tickets to do something together,\u2019 that\u2019s super exciting for (the kids).\u201d<\/p>\n

For its part, the county is happy to facilitate events that allow families, as extensive as they may be, to spend time together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have so much respect for what they do,\u201d said Charmaine Summers, the supervisor of foster care, adoptions and guardianships. \u201cI know that child welfare work is so incredibly hard. And so if we can give back some happy moments and some time where we give positive reinforcement for our families to enjoy, we\u2019re building on positive experiences together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haylee Spurgeon said it was her second year riding the Polar Express through the department.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fun, it makes memories, we have a great time,\u201d she said as the conductor\u2019s call to board the train rang across the crowd. \u201cWe all make the same type of memories and it\u2019s more bonding because we get to spend more one-on-one time with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said little events such as this one have changed her opinion of the Human Services department.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey definitely give us opportunity to do stuff \u2013 we would never be able to do this if it wasn\u2019t for them,\u201d Haylee said. \u201cIt gives us better experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her brother Brian said he\u2019d never been on the train with his entire family before.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just always a good time with the family, you know? Laughing, eating food \u2026 game days; we go to the park sometimes,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s like an extra sibling visit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Delaney, the biological grandmother to Haylee, Brian and Lilly, echoed everything her grand kids had said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like a bonus,\u201d Delaney said. \u201cNobody\u2019s ever been this kind to us before; they went out of their way to make us feel like we can spend time together as a family. Outside of visitation and everything, we actually get to spend time together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preston Smith is also a grandparent to his daughter\u2019s foster children and said it has been a journey to navigate a relationship with the kids\u2019 biological grandmother.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the beginning, it was very rough,\u201d he said. \u201cI think she felt like we were wanting to take away her grandchildren and step in her place. I think now there\u2019s a very loving relationship where I\u2019ve been able to thank her for the support she\u2019s giving my daughter and Blake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyone aboard the foster family car on the Polar Express on Thursday night said the event was one to look forward to.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to take so many kids, it\u2019s very expensive,\u201d Hannah said. \u201cFor our kids, its something they never would\u2019ve gotten to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

rschafir@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Railroad donates a car each year for La Plata County families who participate in program<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1767,755,170,1972,28,475],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-37147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-adoption","tag-christmas","tag-durango-and-silverton-narrow-gauge-railroad-co","tag-family","tag-headlines","tag-la-plata-county-colorado"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37147"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83564,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37147\/revisions\/83564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37147"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=37147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}