Thousands line the streets to welcome Santa Claus to North Bay
As Jane Pearl-Anderson waves to the Santa Claus and others on their floats, she asys her mind is made up on what she wants as her Christmas gift from the jolly elf this year.
“He’s going to bring me a snow globe with my house inside,” she smiled. “It’s my first time at the parade.”
Her friend Landon Robson was so excited to hear the parade was coming back for another year.
“We didn’t get to see it last year,” he said.
As Santa Claus is making his list and is preparing for his journey across the world delivering toys to children, he had time to make a stop in North Bay on Sunday for the city’s parade.
Thousands of young children and their families lined the streets to see the 25 floats and marching bands parade through the city.
“This is my first time seeing the Santa Claus parade because we just moved here,” said Khaleesi Legros who just moved to North Bay from California with her mother Vanessa.
“I look forward to having a white Christmas for the first time,” said Venessa.
Last year, the city in collaboration with the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit, decided to cancel the Santa Claus parade as the city was struggling to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the city organized a drive by parade where kids could wave to Santa safely from their cars.
The health unit gave the green light for the parade to return this year.
“We have to get back to life as we always remember it,” said Mayor Al McDonald. “This is a very safe way to do it. We’re all outside and you can just tell people are thrilled.”
For the last 10 years, the team at Battery Battery have participated in the parade with their locomotive and horseless carriages. When they found out it was back on, they were eager to get back in and spread some holiday joy.
“The choo choo was built as a parade vehicle and I’m into antiques and little things that go,” explained Shawn Kettner. “So whenever there’s a parade we trot them out and have some fun.”
The parade’s theme is ‘Reboot Christmas’ as families hope for a more normal holiday season.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.