The big man will roll down Scott St. next Saturday evening and there’s still room to join the procession.
This is the third year the Fort Frances Kiwanis club has organized the local Santa Claus parade, and organizer Brad Scoyne says they’re making one adjustment to help with organization.
The parade will be organized from the Shevlin Woodyard rather than the parking lot of the Fort Frances Public Library.
One addition from last year will be maintained. The first block or so of the parade will be a sensory friendly zone.
“Once again this year, we’re going to use the first block and a half, from the Shevlin Woodyard to the ambulance base as our sensory sensitive section,” Scoyne said. “So during that section, we won’t have any of the emergency vehicles with flashing lights. There’ll be no loud sirens or noises, and that’s just for anybody who may be sensitive to those things. We want everybody to feel that they can come and participate in the parade in an inclusive way. So the sensory section is there, and then the lights and sirens can come on for the rest of the parade route to Central Avenue where the parade concludes.”
There are several floats already registered but there’s always room for more.
“We have over 20 floats registered,” Scoyne said. “Registrations are still coming in daily. We like to get an idea of who’s coming and how we can best organize everyone so if you send an email to fortfrances.santa@gmail.com that’s how you can get registered.”
Scoyne says they try to have a relatively low barrier to entry for floats.
“There’s no fee to participate and there’s no theme either,” he said. “We like the philosophy ‘come as you are and able to decorate.’ We understand that some people can build some pretty elaborate floats but that’s not required at all.”
Scoyne also wanted to note there are safety precautions for floats to take into account.
“We ask all participants not to throw candy from their float. They should have people walking alongside the parade route and hand candy out or drop it on the ground for spectators,” he said. “Also, once you’re on a float please remain on the float don’t get on and off throughout the route.”
Traffic will be limited in the Scott St. area in the hour leading up to the parade to prepare for the parade.
“Santa Claus has confirmed his attendance, we’ve been working with him very closely,” Scoyne said. “He’ll be there and is excited to see everybody in Fort Frances.”
