Published In The Great North Arrow, December 1, 2023: I Love A Parade (The Best Little Santa Claus Parade in Northern Ontario)

- jim Young

“I love a parade, the tramping of feet;

I love every beat I hear of a drum.

I love a parade, when I hear a band,

I just want to stand and cheer as they come.”

- Harry Richman

The better question might be… “Who doesn’t love a parade?”

Many parades will see young and old alike line the streets in all kinds of weather waiting in anticipation of the parade to pass them by. Decorated floats, costumes, marching bands, clowns, animals, celebrities, policemen, firemen and more all hold a very special appeal for those who have gathered to watch the parade go by.

Cave paintings from about ten thousand years ago suggest the first parades may have been cavemen returning home from a hunt, proudly displaying their prey.

By around 3,000 B.C. parades fell into 2 categories - religious processions and military parades. 

In more recent times, parades are organized for any number of reasons. Parades may be held for religious events such as Easter and Christmas, patriotic events like Canada Day or Independence Day, Military Parades to celebrate a victory, remember the fallen or to garner support for a new war, Sporting Events such as The Calgary Stampede Parade, The Rose Bowl or Grey Cup Parade. And you can be darn sure there will be a parade the next time the Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.

You might have a parade to celebrate your culture like Caribana in Toronto.

Parades are sometimes used just as an excuse to party such as the St. Patrick Day’s Parade and Mardi Gras or even to publicly declare your sexual inclinations such as the LBGTQ Parade.

For obvious reasons, my favourite parade is a Santa Claus Parade… any Santa Claus Parade.

In the 60s, I participated in my first summer parade driving a riding lawn mower for the now defunct annual International Brick Throwing / Rolling Pin Throwing Competitions in Stroud, Ontario. In later years, I square danced on a float in the Barrie Winter Carnival Parade. I have even donned a Darth Vader costume in a Barrie Santa Claus Parade in the 70s.

For the last 10 years I’ve had the honour and privilege of  playing a very special role in both the Barrie Chamber of Commerce Santa Claus Parade as well as the Argyle Santa Claus Parade.

Although I get off easy, it’s usually a lot of work participating in any kind of parade. Are you going to need a float? A tractor? An ATV? Or will you be walking? You will likely want to decorate your chosen mode of transportation, including yourself in the form of a costume. Who else will be participating in the parade with you? How will you get them to help?

Whether you need to adhere to a theme of your parade or have free range to choose for yourself, you will likely need to think of ideas and then come up with the materials to bring them to fruition.

That’s all just for the participants of the parade. There will also be one or more people behind the scenes hard at work to organize and ensure the parade is successful.

Parade organizers are charged with planning every aspect of a parade to ensure it will be both safe as well as successful.

The Toronto Santa Claus Parade, formerly known as the Eaton’s Santa Claus Parade has been a success since 1905. Planning for next year’s parade begins almost as soon as the current parade has ended. You can do great things with 3,000 volunteers, sponsors like Eaton’s, McDonald’s, Canadian Tire, Tim Hortons just to name a few and an operating budget of $1.3 million. (The Toronto Santa Claus Parade is currently seeking $4 million more of Ontario taxpayers money for a larger warehouse.)

Small community parades such as the Argyle Santa Claus Parade have many more challenges to meet with a budget of $0 and a commitment from volunteers that, most years can be counted on one hand and sometimes on one finger.

The first Argyle Santa Claus Parade held in 2017 was organized by the Lion’s Club in less than just one month. The parade that year consisted of upwards of 30 floats. To put that into perspective, this year’s Toronto Santa Claus Parade boasts 27 floats. Of course those floats are on a much grander scale with such a large operating budget. What the people of Argyle may lack in production dollars, they certainly make up for in community spirit. On behalf of Santa himself I propose the Argyle Santa Claus Parade henceforth be known as “The Best Little Santa Claus Parade in Northern Ontario.”

The people of the communities that make up Argyle seem to enjoy the Santa Claus Parade which has been held every year since the first parade with the exception of 2020 when it was canceled due to Covid.

Much credit should be given to Helen Stunenberg whose dedication was largely responsible for getting that first parade off the ground. When Helen moved to a new community, the torch was then passed to Tamara Bain. Of course others have pitched in from time to time and the parade would not be possible if not for the support of local businesses and churches, but the fact remains that some years the Argyle Santa Claus Parade has come close to being canceled.

Lack of commitment is probably the biggest foe of the Argyle Santa Claus Parade. It’s impossible to plan a parade when you don’t know if you will have more than 2 or 3 floats show up. This year, Tamara and her team are hoping to encourage floats by offering prizes to anyone who registers their float ahead of time. They have some other plans that they hope will continue to make “The Best Little Santa Claus Parade in Northern Ontario” bigger and better each year.

Picking a date and time is another difficulty involved in planning a parade. Obviously the parade should be held on a day and time that is convenient to the most number of people. It should come as no surprise that selecting a time and date that is going to accommodate “everyone” just isn’t going to be possible.

This is always a busy time of year. Saturday is a prime date for a parade for a number of reasons, but there are a limited number of Saturdays to choose from. If the date picked is too soon, it will clash with Remembrance Day events. If it’s too late people will complain they’re too busy because it’s too close to Christmas. And of course every date in between will inevitably conflict with another parade or craft show or school event or church concert or maybe even a Black Friday Sale that runs much longer than just Friday.

In addition to all those considerations, the date has to be coordinated with other groups involved such as the Legion who host the children after the parade. The time for the parade to begin will have to take into consideration the timing of the traditional lighting of the Christmas Tree. No one wants to leave a parade that ends early in the afternoon and then come back later for the Christmas Tree lighting.

Ultimately the proof will be in the pudding and the success of this year’s parade, like every other year, will be measured by the attendance of the participants in the parade as well as the attendance of those who show up to enjoy it.

Let’s get behind the organizers of the “Best Little Santa Claus Parade in Northern Ontario” again this year and give them our support in any way we can. 

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