Santa Claus is coming to town

Times Reporter

 

The Santa Claus parade will be taking place on Nov. 27 followed by the official opening of the Celebration of Lights Christmas Park. Organizers and volunteers started in early October, getting everything set up and planned for this year’s festivities. Robert Desjardins, president of the Celebration of Lights committee, said the Santa Claus parade has more floats then it ever has.

“Right now I think we’re pushing pretty close to 30 so it’s quite a bit bigger than it was last year,” said Desjardins. 

The parade will begin at 5 p.m. and all of the floats will be decorated with lights and lit up. 

Following the parade, there will be cookies and hot chocolate, face painters, Santa will be there and will be available for pictures, there will be hayrides and all sorts of entertainment at the Ag Grounds.

“We have a lot more than we thought we’d have for this year, new stuff so that’s encouraging,” said Desjardins. 

Following the parade, people are invited to come to the agricultural grounds to take in the third annual Celebration of Lights. 

Finding volunteers was a bit of an issue at first, but now, while they don’t have the number of people they would like, Desjardins said there hasve been a lot of people who have put in their time to make sure this year will be yet another success. Different organizations and businesses have also been lending helping hands to make sure it all goes off without a hitch. 

There are a lot of new displays put up for people to enjoy, including the 10 new ones which arrived on Nov. 22. This year Desjardins said they bought some displays because time was a bit of an issue. Another issue was getting the ideas and getting the local people to help build it. 

“It’s going to be good and I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that the weather will come around,” said Desjardins. 

“We’ve got it all organized and we’re now just hoping that the community will come out and support the event.”