By Collis, age 12
I read a book, Miles of Smiles by Heather Hill Worthington, about Roxey the Long Island Rail Road mascot. Roxey was an interesting dog who liked to explore. One day, he wandered into a train station and the station master liked him. Soon Roxey was seen wandering around train platforms and even riding with the paying customers.
The president of the railroad found out and heard that the passengers liked Roxey, so he gave the dog a pass to go anywhere on the railroad – that might have been a mistake. First, Roxey caught a train all the way to Philadelphia and back – that’s like a 150-mile trip one way. It takes around three hours again each way.
One day, Roxey saw a really nice car attached to the rear of the train. He went exploring and found a big bed – yep! Up he jumped and made himself comfortable. His nap was interrupted when the car attendant caught him on the bed and started yelling. Suddenly, a big man entered the sleeping area and asked what all the commotion was. Roxey just wagged his tail and enjoyed the big bed he had found. The man saw the railroad pass on Roxey’s collar and decided he did not mind sharing the bed with Roxey.
The man was the President – not of the railroad, but of the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt was on the train to cross the country and give speeches. The train would travel to a town, the train would stop, people would gather (yes, this was before television) and the President would speak – and there on the platform with the President was Roxey. When the President finished the speech, the people would clap and Roxey would bark his approval too.
Anyway, on St. Maarten, we do not have a railroad, but the children of Player Development do have a model train layout we call the St. Maarten Railroad. As we live on an island; we choose to loosely model the Long Island Rail Road, as they operate on an island in New York – so that meant we needed a mascot dog.
We have a dog we care for named Diamond. She is black and white (or maybe white with black – not sure) and she is named after a railroad diamond. A diamond it a track crossing where the two tracks cross at 90 degrees. This is considered one of the most dangerous crossings for trains, as an accident shuts down both lines and usually ends up in a mess. It is called a diamond, because if you look at the middle of the crossing; the tracks form a diamond shape.
Like a railroad diamond, our Diamond can be a little dangerous. She is a stray that wandered in one day at lunchtime. We fed her and she has not left. The vet says she is a pup about a year old. Anyway, when you pet her; she gets excited. Her tail wags; she jumps up and wants to kiss your face; but she gets so excited that she nibbles on ears and noses.
Many diamonds have been eliminated by raising one track over the other so the trains can just run without interruption. Our Diamond is still a puppy and gets into all kinds of mischief. She likes to climb on the table and say hello to us kids as we are doing our work. Player Development is an after school program to help kids get better grades in school. Yes, she interrupts our progress – that is why the name Diamond. She loves to get petted and is really good at begging for snacks.
Some of the children wanted to call her Diamond, because they heard a diamond is a girl’s best friend. So they wanted her named Diamond so she would think we were her best friend. That seems to have worked. So, while we wait for Diamond to do something great like sleep in the President’s bed so we can write a book, we will settle for a small story about the St. Maarten Railroad puppy named Diamond.
