Although families will not see traditional Santa Claus parades this year, organizers behind different events have ensured that Jolly Old St. Nick will be in Chatham-Kent.
On Saturday, Santa Claus will be riding through Wallaceburg in style. The Wallaceburg 2020 Drive-By Santa event will start at 12 p.m. Santa will drive down several different streets in a red convertible.
Jason DeBuck, owner of The Stubby Goat, said he came up with the idea of having a drive-by event after cancellations of traditional events were announced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We can't have everybody downtown, hanging out, doing what we normally do so I figured why not have people hang out on their own property," he said. "When I found out that the kids wouldn't be able to see Santa, I just kind of came up with a quick solution to see if we could put this together."
DeBuck said community partners and volunteers have helped in organizing the event. However, there were hoops to jump through in order to get approval for the event. DeBuck said they can only have five vehicles involved with a limited number of volunteers so they are asking residents to not follow behind in their own vehicles.
"We're going to try to make this as fun as possible without gatherings," he said. "We're all going to be wearing masks and we're encouraging social distancing -- social distancing was a big thing for the Municipality which we have to abide by."
With current restrictions in place, DeBuck said they are not allowed to have their vehicles decorated and fire trucks are not allowed to participate in lighting sirens.
"It's 2020 so we're not used to these things but we had to come up with a few different ideas, out of the box and we're going to roll with it," said DeBuck.
Aside from making sure local children are able to see Santa, DeBuck said the goal behind this event is to benefit those in need. Residents are asked to leave toys or non-perishable food items in a grocery bag for volunteers to pick-up for the Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank. Further details and updates can be found on the event's Facebook page.
Drive-By Santa route. (Photo courtesy of Wallaceburg 2020 Drive-By Santa Facebook page).
Santa can also be seen in his sleigh at the Downtown Chatham Centre on Saturday, November 28, from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. Families will be able to wave to Santa but attendees are asked to follow social distancing guidelines.
Meanwhile, in Tilbury, residents will hopefully be able to see a standstill parade with floats. The Tilbury Auto Mall is set to host a drive-thru style Santa Claus parade on December 12 from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m.
However, they are currently in desperate need for more floats to take part or else the event will be cancelled. Anyone interested in entering a float should call or text Gerry Harvieux at 519 809 4347.
The decision to go ahead or cancel will be made by December 2, 2020. You can find out more information on that event here.
