Marching into the holiday season
It’s all about the candy haul for some young Kitchener-Waterloo parade spectators
The Burlington Teen Tour Band performs Saturday during the Santa Claus Parade that included seven other marching bands and 40 floats. Among the entrants was the Vidyard bot, below left and, of course, the big man himself.
It’s half way through Saturday’s Santa Claus parade, and as the annual holiday kickoff makes its way down Weber Street, twoyear-old Finnegan McDevitt turns away from the vast array of marching bands, inflatable reindeer and musical floats to gaze at the accumulated pile of treats in his stroller.
“Candy,” he says, fascinated with the growing pile of candy canes, jujubes and chocolate bars handed to him and brother Seamus, 4, by parade marchers.
Concerned that he’s missing the point, his grandmother redirects him toward the marching bands and dance troupes keeping time to blasted out versions of “Holly Jolly Christmas” and “Jingle Bell Rock.”
But Finnegan — priorities intact — is having none of it, spinning around to lovingly caress a green foiled Hershey Kiss and Jolly Rancher sucker.
“I think this one is apple,” notes Seamus, ogling the packaged treat as his younger sib gazes wide-eyed. “Apple,” repeats Finnegan. Lest you think candy was the main attraction, you had but to glance up to catch Kitchener’s Mayor Berry Vrbanovic prancing by with antlers on his head, a miniature train belching steam and an inflatable rubber duckie bobbing between traffic lights and telephone poles.
Not that everyone is equally impressed.
“Where’s Santa?” shouts the 10-year-old next to me, impatient after 40 minutes of parade floats.
When no one responds, Ethan Seay turns to his mother: “When we get home, can we watch the movie ‘Elf ’?”
From start to finish, the parade — staged by the Lions Club of Kitchener — takes an hour to pass by, with a new route along Weber that seems to be a hit with those used to the stricter confines of its traditional home on King Street.
“The streets are wider,” notes parade watcher Natasha Grandmond, who attended with her family. “We have more space. On King Street, the police were always telling you to move back.”
If anyone was concerned the November parade, held five weeks before Christmas in weather that can only be described as “balmy,” has more to do with astute marketing than seasonal celebrations, they kept it to themselves.
“The main thing is that it wasn’t snowy,” admits Rochelle McComish, who brought her parents and twin eight-year-olds for an intergenerational family reunion. “But it still felt Christmasy.”
“This brings everybody together. It’s fun to be a part of that.”
Back on the front lines, Finnegan — mesmerized now by a blue candy cane — is pivoted back to the parade by his grandmother just as a man in a giant chicken costume attempts to shake his hand.
Backing away with a startled look, the determined toddler lunges for the enticing candy stash in the stroller as his grandmother sighs heavily.
“It’ll kind of disappear once we get home,” promises Carol Ropp of Waterloo, enlisting help from her husband to get the sugary treats out of sight.
“Most of it will be in my pocket,” agrees Tim Ropp. “We’ll dole them out day by day.”
The parade — which included 40 floats and eight marching bands — stretched from Kitchener’s Frederick Street to Erb Street in Waterloo.
Food bank donations and new toys were collected along the way.