Strathmore prepares to light up the night

Posted on: J A McRae

Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
 
Santa and Mrs. Claus will be making an appearance this Saturday, Nov. 26, at the annual Christmas parade. The parade is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. and will follow along the same route as last year, beginning at the library. 
“I have been telling people that are parking on the street, there’s no parking from the funeral home up to the library where the parade is being set up,” said Linda Giesbrecht, who is organizing the parade this year. 
Currently there are 16 floats signed up to participate, but Giesbrecht is expecting a lot of late entries as people monitor the weather. 
“I think everybody’s waiting for the weather report to see what Saturday looks like. I’m hoping that we’ll get quite a few sort of last minute entries,” said Giesbrecht. 
The Clauses will be walking around visiting with the participants before the parade starts, and will be riding on the Strathmore Veterinary Clinic float this year. 
Giesbrecht has also been asking people not to throw candy because it can break in the cold, and the kids may not be able to find it in the snow. She said there would be plenty of candy for the kids at the Agricultural Society grounds for the kids. 
November 26 is also the official opening of the Celebration of Lights at the Ag. grounds. Every year there are new light displays added to the park and this year the castle has been expanded. There will also be two BBQ’s running to handle the crowds. 
Melissa David of Quality Dog Grooming and her team Paws for a Cure will be manning one of the BBQ’s on opening night to raise money for Relay for Life. 
“It’s a great way for Relay for Life to get their name out there and Melissa was more than happy to have her team be the ones cooking and serving, because it’s a great little fundraiser as well. She was going to be there anyway with her mascot so it worked out great,” said Kristel Lang, a board member with Relay for Life. 
Mittens, popcorn and other goodies are also being sold to raise money for Breast Cancer awareness and there will be free hot chocolate and cookies. There will be horse drawn wagon rides, photos with Santa and on opening night only there will be fireworks at 7 p.m. 
The Celebration of Lights will be open from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday and is scheduled to run until the first weekend of January.