NJ Transit's 'Biggest Fan' Celebrates Birthday With Train Ride

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — The first thing you need to know about Wilder McGraw is that he loves trains. Specifically, NJ Transit trains.

So to celebrate his third birthday, McGraw boarded an NJ Transit train in Ridgewood headed for the Waldwick Whistle Stop restaurant on Saturday. He would eventually be greeted by family, where they would share an NJ Transit themed cake in one of their first gatherings together since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

McGraw is familiar with public transit, spending his first few years in New York City prior to the start of the pandemic.

His mother, Jordi Lippe-McGraw, and father, Ross McGraw, left the city during the early days of the pandemic, first staying with family in Pennsylvania. They later moved to an apartment in Ridgewood, which is where Wilder's love for NJ Transit really "started to blossom," Lippe-McGraw said.

Morning walks in Ridgewood began to include a ritual of stopping at the Ridgewood station to watch trains come and go, and the fascination only deepened.

"He's the biggest fan," said Lippe-McGraw.

So as Wilder's third birthday approached, Lippe-McGraw, who grew up in Mahwah, was faced with a unique challenge of planning a birthday party honoring her son's passion for the state's transportation system.

"How do you plan an NJ Transit themed birthday?" she asked herself. "It’s not like you can go to Party City and pick the New Jersey transit package."

Photos from the birthday party show that the theme, and, particularly, the method of transportation to get to the birthday party, were a hit.

He was greeted at the Waldwick station by family, plenty of yard decorations, a miniature train set-up and even an NJ Transit themed cake, created by Bergen County baker Joanne Velez, of Jojo's Tasty Treats.

Wilder liked his "dream cake" so much that he wouldn't let anyone eat the front of the train, preserving it for display in his family's refrigerator.

"He was on cloud nine the entire time," said Lippe-McGraw.

The birthday also marked a welcome change in the era of the coronavirus. Wilder's second birthday was spent in Pennsylvania with family, but the celebration was small.

On Saturday, the group that gathered in Waldwick was fully vaccinated, and able to gather for the first time since March 2020.

"It just felt normal," Lippe-McGraw said.

View photos of the birthday party below, courtesy of Jordi Lippe-McGraw:

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