Freedom House will use its experience with large community events and its corps of volunteers to organize this year’s Santa Claus Parade.
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“This is our first year of running this parade but we’ve got a history of doing things in the community,” Dave Carrol of Freedom House said. “We haven’t been able to hold Frosty Fest since before the COVID-19 pandemic and because we’re not located downtown anymore it was going to be difficult for us to do a festival like that again.”
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Frosty Fest, a winter carnival organized by Freedom House prior to the pandemic, brought hundreds of people to the downtown and Harmony Square.
Carrol said Freedom House was looking for something else it could do to bring the community together. The Santa Claus parade emerged as a possibility after long-time organizer JCI Brantford had to back away due to a lack of volunteers.
Last year’s parade was organized by the city with the help of community members like Carrol and Stacey Bester, who for years have done the broadcast of the event for Rogers TV, community television.
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“We just couldn’t let it not happen last year,” Carrol said. “The Santa Claus Parade and Canada Day are two major events that bring the community together.”
When efforts to get a service club or organization to deliver this year’s parade were unsuccessful, city officials asked Freedom House to step up.
“I had never considered actually running the event but it fits right in with what Freedom House is all about,” Carrol said. “We’re coming up on 20 years as a church and we’ve always looked for ways of serving the community and bringing it together.
“Given our experience with Frost Fest, it just seemed to be a good fit.”
The parade is being held Nov. 25 and starts at 6 pm For more information about the parade visit https://freedomhouse.ca/santaclausparade/ . The event is formally known as the Freedom House Brantford Santa Claus Parade brought to the community by GrandBridge Energy.
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Carrol said Freedom House has a strong group of volunteers eager to provide a wonderful parade for people of all ages to enjoy.
There is no specific theme for this year’s parade. An after party, organized by the city, will be held at Harmony Square and children will have an opportunity to have their photo taken with Santa.
Meanwhile, the Paris Santa Claus parade, organized by the Paris Fire Fighters Club, takes place Dec. 2 at 6 pm To register send an e-mail to [email protected].
The Burford parade, organized by the Burford Lions Club, takes place Dec. 9 at 5 pm For more information contact MarieAnne Kennette at [email protected].
The St. George Santa Claus parade is set for 6 pm on Dec. 9. It is being organized by St. George Fire Fighters Station 7. For more information contact Brian Macdonald at [email protected].
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