By Cecilia Nasmith
Thanks to the Ontario government's work to lift restrictions in time, Cobourg council voted at Monday's committee-of-the-whole meeting to plan for a Santa Claus parade on the evening of Dec. 4.
The matter was put on the agenda that same day, after Northumberland-Peterborough South MPP David Piccini spoke with all mayors and chief administrative officers in his riding that morning to share plans to lift restrictions in time to allow Remembrance Day parades and Santa Claus parades this year.
Events Co-ordinator Jackie Chapman-Davis said that this will replace plans for what she termed Santa's Tour – a 53-km. tour of the Santa Claus float – alone – through the town's different areas in a bid to avoid the formation of crowds.
Piccini's news launched plans for a parade to take place and – just for the sake of doing something different – it will begin at 6 p.m. instead of the usual 2 p.m.
“I have been in Cobourg 36 years, and I can't remember one parade starting at 6 p.m.,” Mayor John Henderson said.
“But I am willing to run with creativity and innovation. I think the most important thing is, I have gotten hundreds of calls and they want to see Santa.”
Councillor Brian Darling questioned the ability to pull a parade together that quickly.
Especially, Deputy Mayor Suzanne Seguin said, an evening parade.
From her years in Prescott, where the Santa Claus parade is in the evening, she related safety concerns and logistics concerns. In December at 6 p.m., she said, every band and every group of walkers will be shuffling along in the dark. And every float will have to have lights, which means securing a generator and spending the countless extra hours to string enough lights.
An evening parade might be a great idea for 2022, Seguin said. But a 2021 parade has enough challenges without adding in this extra wrinkle.
“There's no sense having a parade with one band and three floats,” she said.
“We've been going through this pandemic for almost two years now,” Councillor Adam Bureau said.
“Now that the provincial regulations will be lifted, I have been talking to Jackie and the Deputy Director (Teresa Behan) and, if they say they can put on a parade, I think the town needs to be celebrating.”
The motion specifies “subject to the future provincial orders to be passed and subject to the finalization of details from staff.”
