With Rudolph’s help, Santa Claus made it through a sudden blizzard and made a safe landing in Alexandria Sunday night.
The Santa Claus parade is put on by the Alexandria and District Lions Club, with Cassie Depratto Nutt at the helm.
The club built Santa’s sleigh and reindeer float five years ago, finishing it with donated paint. The club is always looking for new members who would be interested in joining and pitching in to put on events such as parades for the town.
Working with Cassie were her husband Kevin Nutt, Marc Leblanc, Raymond Deschamps, Michelle and Bob Gordon, Kevin Van Den Oetelaar and his daughter Reese, Josée Goulet, Ron Graham (The Man in the Red Suit), Morag and Katie Libbos.
The Alexandria business community also plays a key role in supporting the parade. Companies, groups and schools enter floats in the parade and local businesses create beautiful displays of lights at Island Park.
North Glengarry firefighters showed off their fire and rescue equipment while collecting non-perishable food for the local food bank. Sparky the Fire Dog was walking the parade route, running a very close second to Santa in popularity. But the arrival of Santa was thrilling. With an amazing display of fireworks at the conclusion of the parade, provided by the Township of North Glengarry, the evening proved to be quite the spectacular event.
The efforts of the Lions Club, the local business community, the Township and everyone who takes part in the parade are outstanding and show that small communities can put on big events.
