LIHU‘E — Jonah Stein fiddled with the switch, pressing it once, twice, three times in order to stop the train, Saturday. Stein, 10, is one of the younger volunteers who is helping with the Festival of Lights inside the Historic
LIHU‘E — Jonah Stein fiddled with the switch, pressing it once, twice, three times in order to stop the train, Saturday.
Stein, 10, is one of the younger volunteers who is helping with the Festival of Lights inside the Historic County Building, said Elizabeth Freeman, the festival’s director.
Stein, who gets the help of his parents, Richard and Viviane, to get to the displays which are on from 6 to 8 p.m., Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday, was hooked due to his love of trains, Freeman said.
“He started being the ‘conductor’ of our Cane Train Village when he was just seven years old in 2008,” Freeman said. “I used to just let the train run and when Jonah came to see it, he let me know how much more special it would be if the train were started up when a group of keiki gather around.”
Freeman said she didn’t have someone who could do that and Jonah looked at her with ‘I could do that’ written all over his face and smile.
Saturday night, Jonah was at his conductor’s station at one corner of the Cane Train layout, deftly stopping the train in mid-scene until keiki gather around and with an “All Aboard” and a nice subdued hoot from its whistle, the train moves, around and around, sounding its horn on the turns and drawing the youngsters closer with its unseen railroad magnetism.
“Jonah told me, ‘Kids really like it when I stop the train at a point where they can’t see it and start it up,’” Freeman said, thrilled at filling a position with someone eager to help due to his love of trains. “He’s already planning something for next year because he was taking measurements. I’m sure there’s something coming from his mind.”
Stein will be at his post on Friday and Saturday night from 6 to 8 p.m.
