“2008 Orphan Train Celebration” - Trip Planned & Booked!!

“The World is a book, and those who
do not travel read only a page”. St. Augustine

On Friday Morning April 25th Sabrina and I will be boarding a Southwest airplane from the Manchester, New Hampshire Airport and heading “PLAINS BOUND” to Omaha, Nebraska - Leppley Airport to attend the “2008 Orphan Train Celebration”! http://www.orphantraindepot.com/ProgramsAndEvents.html

Back in January 2008, I emailed Charlotte Endorf, writer, author of
Plains Bound: Fragile Cargo: Revealing Orphan Train Reality
http://www.amazon.com/Plains-Bound-Fragile-Revealing-Reality/dp/159800235X to share with her the incredible news The Home for Little Wanderers delivered to me via the phone….that I was picked to be one of the HONOREES during The Home’s Annual Visions and Voices Fundraiser Celebration on May 28, 2008 in Boston http://www.thehome.org/

Charlotte invited to me to come to Nebraska and speak about “The Home for Little Wanderers” during this “2008 Orphan Trains Celebration” event on actual Orphan Trains on April 26 and 27, 2008.

I will be bringing my laptop and do plan on BLOGGING our experiences and I CAN tell you this - our Trip to Nebraska has a jammed PACKED itinerary!

We arrive on Friday April 25th and will be staying at the Wilderness Lodge for two nights. If you have little ones go to the site and download some of their coloring pages. Or even if you are an adult! Coloring is therapeutic!! http://www.wildernesslodgecc.com/

On Saturday April 26th, and Sunday April 27th we will be meeting and greeting many people who are also coming to Nebraska from different states to attend this event. Some of the people are actual Orphan Train passengers; some are biological relatives, adopted relatives, or even foster families. We will ride the trains, share stories, photos and take more photos of the many other exciting activities.

Then on Sunday evening Sabrina and I are checking into the Holiday Inn Omaha Convention Center and GET THIS (!) – It is a CoCo Key Resort and for those of you who read my January 2008 post KNOW that Sabrina and I will really enjoy splashing around again on the water slides!! YA BOO!!
http://themeparks.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=themeparks&cdn=travel&tm=8&gps=160_770_788_439&f=00&su=p531.31.150.ip_p532.6.150.ip_p531.29.420.ip_p284.8.150.ip_&tt=11&bt=1&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.cocokeyresort.com/index.php%3F/Omaha/index/

Early Monday morning April 28, 2008 we will take a shuttle bus over to the Amtrak Station http://www.amtrak.com/ and board a train from Omaha to the heart of the “windy city” of Chicago. Since this is a six-hour layover stop Sabrina and I will definitely see some sights in Chicago! We will then hop back on another train to Albany, New York on Tuesday April 29th and finally board a five-hour motor coach bus and arrive at South Station - Boston, Mass on Tuesday evening, where a friend will pick us up and take us HOME SWEET HOME!

I must admit it is an honor for me to be asked to join this magical event and share a part of this history – but the best part with the help of some friends I have I found an affordable way to travel so that I can also bring my ten-year-old daughter Sabrina along to experience this with me! PRICELESS!! .... We are ready to head PLAINS BOUND!

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Facts

By Train They Came – by Charlotte and Sarah Endorf

See this link http://www.libreriauniversitaria.it/by-train-they-came-charlotte/book/9781432717339

“Climb aboard to hear the true stories of the children who rode the Orphan Train By Train They Came: Fragile Excess Baggage, Vol. 1 is the perfect adjunct to Plains Bound: Fragile Cargo, which brought us the extraordinary history of the Orphan Train Riders.

In this latest work, written especially for young people, the Endorfs share the personal stories of those whose lives were forever altered when they were taken by rail to be placed with foster families throughout America”. “Praise for By Train They Came: Fragile Excess Baggage, Vol. 1

"The message of the lives of the Orphan Train riders is one of endurance, perseverance and survival. In this new book, each story is unique unto itself with a lesson to be learned from each." – Mary Ellen Johnson, Founder of the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America, Inc., Arkansas http://www.orphantrainriders.com/founder11.html
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Orphan Train History

http://www.orphantraindepot.com/OrphanTrainHistory.html

Between 1854 and 1929 an estimated 200,000 orphaned, abandoned, and homeless children were placed out in what is known today as the Orphan Train Era. The name is derived from the children's situations, though they were not all orphans, and the mode of transportation used to move them across 47 states and Canada.

When the orphan train movement began, it is estimated that 30,000 abandoned children were living on the streets of New York City. Two charity institutions, The Children's Aid Society and The New York Foundling Hospital, determined to help these children.The aid institutions developed a program that placed homeless city children into homes throughout the country.

The children were transported to their new homes on trains which were eventually labeled “orphan trains.

This period of mass relocation of children in the United States is widely recognized as the beginning of documented foster care in America.