Santa Claus is back in town

Roger Varley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Santa Claus returned to Uxbridge on Saturday, preceded by an hour-long parade which included bands, cartoon characters, fire trucks, sports teams, two Shriners trains and a contingent of flag-twirling cheerleaders.

Some past regular features were not to be seen, such as horses and the amazing Batman who delighted the crowds for a few years. But there was an added dash of multiculturalism in the form of a couple of dazzling dancing Chinese dragons and one float that sprayed "snow" over the delighted crowd.

All photos by John Cavers

It was also the first time that Christine McKenzie led the Uxbridge Legion Pipes and Drums Band as Drum Major, a role she took over just recently.

All along Brock Street, local merchants were handing out free coffee, hot cider and popcorn to chilly parade watchers. The temperature hovered around 1C and the skies were threatening. Just before the parde started, a loud thunderclap resonated over town, but the rain held off until the parade had finished.

With the large crowd in attendance and in response to a request from the Durham Regional Police Auxiliary, the township deployed about half-a-dozen large township snow plows to block off streets leading into the parade route. However, there were no incidents and the parade went off without a hitch.

Following the parade, many people headed over to St. Paul's Anglican Church to view its display of Christmas trees decorated in a variety of styles. Each tree had a box in front of it where attendees could deposit tickets they had purchased in hopes of winning the decorations or the gift certificates attached to the trees. There were also Christmas wreaths and gift baskets to be won. Many of the trees and prizes were donated by members of St. Paul's and Trinity United Church’s congregations.

And, magically, Santa Claus was there to meet the children.

The Festival of Trees, as the event was called, were on display both Saturday and Sunday. An organizer of the event said that hopes are the Festival of Trees will become an annual fundraiser for the two churches.