In The Eyes Of A Child

Dear Parade Organizers and Participants,

This past Friday, you put on a great parade to officially kick off the festive holiday season. I have to admit that being an adult and from a large city, the appeal for a parade, especially in a smaller town, is somewhat critical and at times cynical. As adults most of us have the tendency to forget the appeal in "the boring ticket items" and standing on a curb side trying to pacify impatient or tired children gets tedious and frustrating only to have the parade over within minutes or non eye catching. However, this year, the wait was well worth it.

To the police force, ambulance crew and firefighters, the shrill of your siren, flash of lights and wave of your hand had my children jumping up and down with excitement. Your acknowledgement of my son's zealous cries by the short, quick toot of your horn only reinforced his desire to become one of you when he grows up.

To the snowplow decorated in festive Christmas lights, your enormous size alone had my children in awe and they marvelled at the importance of your winter duties.

To the mini tractor who moved his shovel up and down to mimic a wave - as my son said, "that was so cool".

To the semi truck who acknowledged my son's pumping of his fist up and down with a loud, boisterous draw on the horn, thank you for making him feel so proud of himself. And, thank you for scaring the shit out of my daughter causing her to become permanently attached to me. How did you know that I was starting to freeze my ass off and needed some extra body heat?

To Mr. Shivers, the mascot for the Kootenay Ice hockey team, it is amazing at how much excitement a Yeti can cause. My son literally worships you and wants you to be the mascot of the NHL hockey team that he will play on in the future.

To the rapping Santa - thank you for making me laugh. While the kids didn't understand the lyrics and your attempts to be ghetto, the adults did and all got a good chuckle out of it. And thank you for dressing a little different from the true Santa so the kids understood that you were just part of the show.

To the high school Graduates of 2009, what a good idea to partake in the parade to honour your accomplishment. The added kudos goes out to your efforts of wrapping your pick up truck like a big present. All of the kids couldn't stop talking about that.

To the all girl marching band, we thoroughly enjoyed your practices in the field over the summer and I can see that your hard work has paid off. You were all entertaining and had both children and adults dancing in the streets with your festive holiday tunes and showmanship.

To all of the other participants of the parade driving pick up trucks decked out in lights and the walkers handing out candy canes and information pamphlets promoting your cause, every time my children received something, they were there with their thank yous and would eagerly run over to me to show me what they got.

Last but not least, to Santa. Thank you for taking time on Friday to attend our parade especially given that this is the busiest time of year for you. To see the excited joy displayed on all of the children's faces as you arrived and rode your sleigh by them was the best part of the parade. And how are you able to acknowledge each child? My son swears that you winked at him when he told you that he loved you. You are a very special man indeed.

And, to cap off the night, we headed over to the nearby community park that you decked out with Christmas lights, displays and music. Despite the chill of the night setting in, we walked on over and enjoyed the sights, activities and laughter. And the best part of the night? It was the fact that we spent a quality evening together as a family wrapped in holiday excitement and overwhelming love for one another. And, it didn't even cost us a penny to do so.

Thank you for giving us such a splendid evening.

In Holiday Love,

The Whittinghams