THUNDER BAY – The Parade of lights went off without a hitch Saturday evening much to the delight of the hundreds of people lining the parade route.
The parade route started at Manitoulin Transport on Main St. and came over the bridge at Intercity to Memorial Ave. Where it headed North up Memorial Ave to Queen St, and featured a sensory section near the Wholesale Club with no honking or music playing
Greg Stephenson, organizer, says that the weather was beautiful and he’s happy with the number of parade watchers who came out to show support as well as the roughly 140 vehicles that participated in the parade.
“It's kind of hard to tell because it's, like, mass confusion here, but we have a lot of highly decorated vehicles that are lining up right now,” he said.
“We have people waiting and we hope to raise a lot of money for the four charities.”
This year, the parade is in support of Autism Ontario, Special Olympics Ontario, Therapy Riding Association, and George Jeffrey Children's Centre and volunteers walked along the parade route to collect donations.
“It's important for the four charities It helps with their operating budgets for the whole year, and this is something that people look forward to,” Stephenson said.
“It's kind of like a kickoff for this Christmas season and we're very happy to be able to provide it for them.”
For anyone who would still like to donate and help the four charities now that the parade is wrapped up, visit the parade’s Facebook page to learn more.
