Wallaceburg’s annual Christmas parade may be moving out of the daylight this year, but the floats are still expected to shine bright.
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Rob Knight, chairperson for the Knights of Pythias-organized event, said he wanted to bring in some changes this year, including moving the time to 6 pm from 2 pm
He said this will allow the parade to have lights.
“Comparing to what Chatham and Dresden (parades) did, it has been successful for them,” Knight said. “I thought, well, it won’t hurt us to try.”
This is the 55th annual Christmas parade from Knights of Pythias Robey Lodge #9. All previous parades have started at 2 pm
This year’s event will be held Nov. 16. While the start time is changing to 6 pm, the route will not change.
The parade starts at Arnold Street and continues along Dufferin Avenue, James Street, Nelson Street and Elgin Street. Knight said a challenge in recent years has been bringing in more participants, as the number of floats in the parade went down after the pandemic.
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“This year, we went through the trouble of going to surrounding towns to try and bring in more floats,” he said. “The biggest problem is finding marching bands because they’re not as popular as they used to be either.”
Pre-registration numbers show 20 more floats this year than last year, Knight said, but “you never know until the day of.”
The Knights of Pythias recently put out a call for donations. The notice said they have not met their goal to cover “bands, pipers, Shriners and other administrative costs.”
The call asked for checks to be written out to Rokeby Lodge #9 Knights of Pythias Inc. and sent to 225 Nelson St., Wallaceburg, N8A 4H5.
“This economy is hurting every single event because the small businesses are not capable of putting out what they used to,” Knight said.
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He said, as an example, they are asking people who donated $200 last year to try to give $50 this year. They’ve received donations as low as $20 or $40, he said.
Knight said organizers have had a good response to this year’s theme: What Christmas means to you.
“The churches have really stepped up and liked that idea,” he said. “It makes it easier for them to decorate their floats and gives them something to go by.”
Knight said they also hope to get more volunteers involved this year.
“It takes a large amount of people to make this successful,” he said. “If you’re retired and looking for something to do, get a hold of the Knights of Pythias.”
For more information, visit the Wallaceburg Knights of Pythias Facebook page.
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