Children had an exciting afternoon meeting up with many interesting characters at the parade. Morin Photo
RUSSELL – The Russell Santa Claus Parade was given great weather for its Sat., Nov. 26 Christmas event.
The parade was a welcome moment to celebrate the season and the end of so many Covid related stresses in the Russell community.
This year, the parade, which is a partnership between the Russell Lions Club and the Russell Fire Department, featured 43 floats, and a parade route lined with excited and appreciative spectators.
The success of the parade relies on how the community supports it, either by taking part with a float or simply turning out to enjoy it.
Chair of the Russell Firefighter’s Association Parade Committee, Matthew Spence said, “It was great to see so many new businesses and organizations volunteer their time and enter a float into this year’s parade. Our community is definitely growing, which continues to make our parade such a success. We were able to, through the support and generosity of the community, drop off a fire truck full of non-perishable food and hundreds of dollars in support of the Good Neighbours Food Bank in the Township of Russell. We can’t wait to see what next year has in store.”
Spence explained the success of the yearly prelude to the Christmas event is not all because of the number of floats and spectators. He feels the number of people that are helped in the Russell community because of the parade is a measure of its success.
“It helps collect food and monetary donations for our local food bank. A big thank you to our volunteers who helped organize it and to our Russell Fire Department, (RFD) firefighters who helped get the parade off without a hitch. We also can’t thank the Russell Lions Club enough for partnering with us every year to help bring this event to our community,” said Spence.
He said special thanks must go out to everyone from the horse riders to float makers for their efforts.
The winners of the three different float categories are: Most Festive – Smart Rock, Best Organization or Group – Russell Agricultural Society, and most creative, Imagine Orthodontics.
Joseph Morin is the Editor of the Eastern Ontario AgriNews, and the Record. He is, despite years of practice, determined to eventually play the guitar properly. He has served the Eastern Ontario community as a news editor, and journalist for the past 25 years with the Iroquois Chieftain, Kemptville Advance, West Carleton Review, and Ottawa Carleton Review in Manotick. He has never met a book he did not like.
