Santa makes an afternoon visit to Campbell’s Bay

December 5, 2017

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The Equity

A party was held in the Campbell’s Bay R.A. Hall after the parade, where kids ran wild fueled by candy and pop, and eagerly waiting for Santa’s visit. Santa brought a bag full of goodies and gave each kid on his nice list, including Alayna Frost, an early present.

Left: The annual Campbell’s Bay – Litchfield afternoon Christmas parade rolled down from the Manor Saturday, drawing eager children in for a chance to see Santa ride in on his sleigh. Pictured, kids enjoy the Santa’s Splash Party.

Floats competed across a variety of categories to win awards for best group, best ATV and the like. From left: Scott, Abby, Noah and Katie Laporte, plus Maple and Chanel Shea, took home first place with their float, ‘Decorating the Christmas Tree.’

Favourite cartoon characters such as Barney and Chase from Paw Patrol joined the parade through Campbell’s Bay, and met up with the kids back at the R.A. Hall at the end.

Donald
Teuma-Castelletti
CAMPBELL’S BAY
Dec. 2, 2017
Santa Claus rolled into Campbell’s Bay Saturday afternoon, preceded by his company of cartoon characters, tree decorators, a splash pad and more at the annual Christmas parade.
Families lined the streets, scoping out the best spots to collect candy and wave hello to their favourite parade participant, before everyone grouped into the town’s recreation association for a chance to get a picture taken on Santa’s lap.
A tradition decades old, organizer and councillor Tim Ferrigan said the parade has been going on for generations, and was something he attended as a kid, too.
“We get kids from all over, with this being one of the last local daytime parades,” said Ferrigan. “Every year we get a big turnout.”

Nearly 20 floats took part, and just a slight edge of competition was in the air, as participants competed in various categories for distinctions such as Best Business Float and Best Group Float up for grabs.
First place this year went to the float entitled ‘Decorating the Christmas Tree,’ while second went to Eric Pilon Construction with their float ‘Monster Truck.’ Third place was awarded to St. John’s Elementary School’s ‘Santa on Vacay’ and fourth was the local Lions Club with their ‘Night Before Christmas’ float.
Once the distinctions were handed out, kids were led in a cheer to welcome Santa to the R.A. hall. While he must have been distracted finding parking for his sleigh, families were led in the singing of a few Christmas carols before they decided to try calling him again. Shouts of “Ho, ho, ho” filled the hall and cheers erupted when Santa arrived.
From there, long lines began to form by age group, as eager children awaited their chance to talk with Santa and get their picture taken on his lap.
The parade and celebrations were put on by a collaboration between the municipalities of Campbell’s Bay and Litchfield, and all supplies, from food to decorations, were bought locally.
“I consider it a great success,” said Ferrigan, who admitted he could only see so much from the inside of a character costume. “It looked like a lot of people came out.”

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