Residents of Battersea, Ont., township were all smiles with the arrival of the man in red this Sunday, as the second Battersea Santa Claus Parade took place.
South Frontenac Township Mayor Ron Vandewal said he was “excited to see it back and excited for the community … just to get together and do stuff.”
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The parade made its way into town from Storrington Public School, turning around by the Creekside Bar and Grill.
“Last year with the Kingston parade being cancelled, I asked some of my other friends and small businesses around the area, ‘Why don’t we put some floats in and drive down the road and see what happens?’” said Creekside owner and parade organizer Kyle Gordon.
Last year’s impromptu parade featured eight floats from local community members. This year, Gordon said there were at least 17.
“I was blown away by the support this year by the community,” he said.
Along the route, Gordon collected food and cash donations from community members for the Battersea United Church, piling them high within a motorboat attached to his truck.
“After the donations that this community put together today, I’ve got tingles right now just thinking about it,” Gordon said. “My boat was overflowing with donations and even we had cash donations as well. And that’s what it was all about. It was about putting smiles on people’s faces and helping out our community.”
Gordon hand-delivered the donations to Rev. Heather McLurg-Murphy at the church, who was blown away by the number of donations.
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“The community came together today at the parade and it’s going to help us immensely,” McLurg-Murphy said Sunday.
The church plans on gifting food and presents to 27 families living in the community.
With the growing success of this parade, Gordon said he has no plans of slowing things down in the years ahead.