The Magic of the Aylmer Christmas Parade

I love small town Christmas parades! They are innocent, a tad hokey, and magical all at the same time.

Where else do firetruck, police cars and other government vehicles get to blaze their lights and sirens - noise bylaws be damned? Where else are brightly coloured semi trucks considered parade floats? Where else do Scouts, Sea Cadets, Brownies and other local children's groups get to march shoulder-to-shoulder with adults?

Watching with Dada

The small town Christmas parade that I always make a point of seeing year after year is the one in nearby Aylmer, Quebec. It's especially nice as it's held at night, which gives it an extra dose of magic.

Glosette Girl, Margot and I tried the much-bigger Ottawa Christmas parade one year but...it just wasn't the same. The floats were too fancy. Too sophisticated. No! No! No! Give me an honest amateur work over  your professional-high-falutin-floats any day of the year.

We usually go with Les Cousins and this year was no exception. They had tons of fun, and watched with excited eyes as the spectacle rolled by.

Les Cousins and the Big Red Fire Truck

Glosette Girl got to see her favourite part of the parade too: the marjorettes (girls throwing batons in the air and catching them). Every year, deep in her heart, she dreams that one of the marjorettes trips and falls and the leader of the troop cries out "She's hurt! Oh No! Who will take the place of  our fallen sister?" to which Glosette Girl responds "I will!" and joyfully steps in.

Glosette Girl's dream job

And of course we got to see the big man himself, Mr. S. Claus. Seeing him at the end of the parade always caps off the evening. It's wonderful for Margot and makes me feel like a kid again. It's Christmas!

The Grande Finale!