Notes from a small town girl....

My community is situated only an hour drive away from a large city and many of the residents go there to buy things. A few years ago the local merchants got together to find a way to encourage people to do their Christmas shopping in town.

They came up with the idea of ‘A Country Christmas’. It starts in late November. The stores go all out with decorations and lots of outdoor lights. There are community concerts with a wide range of talent – from elementary school choirs, to ballet, piano students and adult choirs. There are craft sales and art shows. There is a dance. There is a public decorating of a Christmas tree in the town center. There is day of fun activities for the children at the Civic Center. But, the most fun event for me and I think for the rest of the town is a huge Christmas parade that takes part at night. There are lots of Christmas parades in Canada but not many take place at night. It is much colder but it is incredibly festive with all the floats decorated with Christmas lights. You wouldn’t have the same effect in the daytime. Each year there are more floats and more people lining the streets to watch. Afterward there are some fireworks and many people go shopping because the stores offer great specials and stay open until midnight to encourage in town shopping. The parade this year was fantastic with even a marching band that braved the
-20 C weather.

This is a cement mixer truck all lit up and decorated to look like a huge rotating snowman.