A light in the night

CHAMPLAIN | Nicholas Roberts is described through the eyes of his mother, Gail Roberts, as a bouncy, happy kid. Nick was outspoken, happy, lucky, and loved every party, Gail described. "He always fought for the underdog," Gail recalled. Nicholas was killed in a snowmobile accident Dec. 29, 2013. He was just 21 years old at the time. "We were celebrating our Christmas that day he was killed. So for us, like the first couple of years, we really struggled around the holidays because of his death. Like, November would come and we all would, you know, we still had gifts that weren't unwrapped from when he died. So we kind of just, actually it was more my husband's idea just to kind of sort of start turning things around, and start making something a little bit more positive. So that's how it came about," explained Gail. For the past five years or so the Roberts family have worked through their grief to bring some light to the community through the St. Nicholas Christmas Truck. The truck is also done for Nick's son, Milo, who Nick's girlfriend was pregnant for at the time of his passing. The St. Nicholas Christmas Truck is a milk truck that belongs to C. Roberts & Sons Bulk Milk Hauling, owned by Robby Roberts, Nick's Dad. "My husband owns a milk hauling business so he owns C. Roberts & Sons Milk Hauling, so they take a truck out of commission out of the fleet and that's how we decorate it," said Gail. Gail also explained that when they first started decorating the truck it started out with just a few lights, and now the truck is fully decorated with lights, inflatables, and even plays Christmas music. Each year the truck is decorated with a different theme. This year the theme is Through the Eyes of a Child. Students at Mooers Elementary and Rouses Point Elementary were given milk truck coloring sheets and asked to decorate them based on what they think the truck should look like this year. Since the truck is done in memory of their son, the Roberts don't ask for donations, although they have started allowing community members to donate leftover Halloween candy to be used for candy bags that the truck passes out at its stops. "As of right now, I think we got like a thousand bags of candy to pass out," Gail went on to add that she was expecting more candy donations after Thanksgiving. Brenda Cardin, Robby's sister, is in charge of making all the candy bags, adding to the family effort to remember Nick. "I think for us it's showing, I mean kindness. Being able to take a negative or something so tragic in your life and be able to put positive energy into it it's possible. You can do it, it's a mindset," stated Gail. In addition to candy, they will also be handing out bracelets at the stops and are asking that community members do a random act of kindness in memory of Nick. "So what we do is everybody that we give a bracelet to we ask them to do an act of kindness in Nick's memory. So that's one of the things that we're doing to kind of boost the positivity and boost up, just being kind, being nice, being thoughtful of other people," explained Gail. With the rising gas prices, the cost of running the truck this year will be higher, but the Roberts' isn't letting that slow them down. In fact, the truck is booked at local community events every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday leading up to Christmas. Gail said, "It's definitely impacting us, I think we got, it's impacting like the cost of things, but I don't think it's going to limit where we're gonna go." Another cost factor for the operation of the truck is the lights themselves. The sand on the road eats away at the lights, so when buying decorations for the truck, they buy everything in double to ensure they have a fully lit truck for the entire season. The St. Nicholas Christmas Truck can be seen at various events all throughout the North Country. "It comes together because other people help," Gail said on what brings the truck to life. To learn more about the St. Nicholas Christmas Truck visit their Facebook Page St. Nicholas Christmas Truck.

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A light in the night

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