Hundreds of residents attended the annual St. George Santa Claus Parade on Saturday, December 9, 2023.
The parade kicked off at the corner of Scott Street and Beverly Street West, before making its way onto Main Street and through the heart of the village.
St. George Firefighters led the pack, as the floats in this year’s parade followed close behind.
A variety of 23 local businesses, community groups and organizations made their way through the route, waving to the crowd and handing out candy canes along the way.
Floats were decked out head-to-toe with all the bells and whistles, however many were audibly impressed with the float from Ontario Hot Air Balloon Rides.
The crowd cheered and clapped as the float drove by, igniting the burner along the way.
A short while later, families jumped to their feet to wave to the man of the hour, Santa Claus, as he arrived on scene to wave to residents.
As the parade ended, many residents made their way to Brant County Fire Station #7 (St. George) for a chance to grab hot chocolate, drop off donations to the food bank, and visit with Jolly St. Nicholas.
Brian McDonald, a St. George Fire Fighter, said the station has been hosting the parade since 1984. Even during the pandemic, the department found a way to improvise the parade by bringing Santa to residents.
“We took Santa on that very sleigh, through every street of the village so the kids still got to see him in their own front yards,” he said. “We did that for two years, but it’s been great to be back to our regular parade program.”
McDonald said he was impressed with this year’s turnout.
“We had a great crowd tonight,” he said. “I believe the mild weather really helped with that. It wasn’t super cold, and we actually missed the rain, so it was perfect.”
The local firefighter said that the department couldn’t have put on the parade without the help of the volunteers.
“These events don’t happen without the volunteer firefighters putting their time in,” he said. “It’s not just me, there’s 24 of us at this station and we put this on together.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
