This December, Cochranites are invited to be a part of local holiday history with the first ever Cochrane Santa Claus Parade.
“Cochrane is a great community and it’s a young community. Let’s start giving those kids memories that last a lifetime,” said Mick Gee, chair of the Cochrane Santa Claus Parade committee. “They can tell their kids, ‘I was there when it first started.’”
With Calgary having stopped their Santa Claus parade in 2006 and the nearest local parade happening in Banff, Gee thought Cochrane would be a perfect location for the event.
On Dec. 13 from 5 – 6 p.m., the parade will take place with a collection of floats, musicians and performers. It will start at the old IGA parking lot and move down 1st Street, coming to and end at Frank Wills Memorial Hall.
Gee said he didn’t want to give away too many details, but could say that they have around 300 people participating in the parade with about 95 per cent of those participants being from Cochrane.
He said they would have an award for best entry, and so far they have some amazing floats already entered. The winning entry receives a trophy, a plaque and automatic entry into the 2015 parade, because as Gee put it, they need to defend their title.
Gee said judges would be looking for originality, Christmas spirit and overall effort.
Just prior to the start of the Cochrane Santa Claus Parade, the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will be stopping in Cochrane from 2:45 – 3:45 p.m. featuring performances from Jim Cuddy and Tracey Brown.
Gee said the break in between the events offers time for visitors to check out Cochrane and the local business in town.
Another element of the event will see Santa and his sleigh visiting different communities in Cochrane. Gee described this as being part of a holiday tradition in the United Kingdom, where, following a Santa Claus parade, Mr. Claus makes a series of community visits.
In Cochrane, Santa Claus will be stopping by five different communities from Dec. 15 – 19 between 5:30 – 8:30 p.m., going down the main roads of each community.
Gee said they would put Santa’s sleigh on a trailer when it goes around to the different communities.
“We thought we can’t have a plain trailer. I came up with this crazy idea to make it look like Santa is flying over the mountains,” he explained. “We’ve partnered with the Boys and Girls Club, so they are as of right now painting the mountains on the side of the trailer. Santa is going to be on a raised platform. You will look to the mountains and you will see stars next to Santa.”
As part of marking the first annual parade, Gee said they would be selling ornaments in five shops in downtown Cochrane. The ornaments will be priced at $10, and $5 from each ornament sold will go to the Boys & Girls Club of Cochrane & Area (BGCCA).
“They are a unique item because there will only be one first annual,” said Gee.
Although Gee said he and his committee appreciate that 2014 is the unknown, he said he has received a significant amount of community support and have had a lot of response via social media.
“The community has been really supportive, which has given us the momentum to go forward,” he said.
For more information visit cochranesantaclaus.ca.
