Festive spirit
Westville parade organizers put greater emphasis on safety
Safety was top of mind as hundreds of people lined Main Street in Westville as the town kicked off the holiday season with its annual Parade of Lights.
Parents kept their children close, and you needn’t wonder why.
Organizers of the Parade of Lights on Saturday in Westville, mindful of the tragedy in Yarmouth on Nov. 24 when a fouryear-old girl died after being struck by a float during a Christmas parade, tightened safety rules last week in the days leading up to the parade.
“There’s been a lot of focus on the safety aspect of the parade,” said Westville Fire Department deputy-chief Tom Steele, who also chairs the parade committee. “Our committee has taken that role very seriously.”
The committee met Nov. 26 and quickly put in some new rules: no jumping on or off floats during the parade, no walking alongside them and no parking on the parade route, rules expected to be strictly enforced in future years.
“There will be zero tolerance of that,” Steele said.
Firefighters from Westville and the Alma Fire Department also agreed to make a greater presence, and Westville police were on hand to help keep things running smoothly.
The Cape Breton regional Municipality revised some of its policies for parades, among them that any motorized floats must have a spotter walking on each side of the float. Steele said he thinks the province might blanket communities with a similar policy. Even if not, he expects parade organizers across the province to make policy changes.
“We will be considering that for upcoming parades,” said Steele, whose town also holds a large Canada Day parade each July 1. “We have to refocus and be a safe event.”
With relatively mild temperatures making for a pleasant December evening, hundreds of parade-watchers lined Main Street for the annual Parade of Lights, as approximately 40 floats rolled by.
At one point during the parade, a small boy started to wander out into the street, before being quickly reeled in by (presumably) his mother. It was a reminder of how quickly things can happen.
“Everybody’s got to be vigilant,” Steele added, calling what happened in Yarmouth “a hard lesson for everyone.”