Santa’s elves toil away at the North Pole to make sure everything is in place for Christmas Eve, but they’re not the only ones helping the big guy spread joy for the holidays.
The jolly old elf is busy this time of year, so a crew of people at Huntsville’s Kimberly-Clark plant work hard to ensure he has a beautiful ride for the annual Santa Claus parade. They’ve been building his float for more than 20 years.
“It’s important to give back to the community you live and work in, and the Santa Claus parade is a great way for us as volunteers and us as a company to do that for Huntsville,” said Elizabeth Litchfield, who has been an engineer at Kimberly-Clark since 2014. “We get to carry the big guy, Santa, on our float!”
Kimberly-Clark has a core group of about half a dozen employees who directly work on the float and deal with logistics, and another six who work on tasks such as decorations.
Additionally, they have around a dozen who walk in the parade on the big night along with their families, handing out pocket packs of Kleenex to the crowd—it’s always a hit. Some walkers are also retired employees who have been involved for more than twenty years.
“It’s fun because it’s a joyful time for many, and you get to see all your friends lined along the streets waiting for you to walk by,” said Litchfield.
Over the next week, the Kimberly-Clark team will be putting the final touches on their float in the parade’s theme, “Let it Snow—Christmas in Muskoka.” But the final design is under wraps. You’ll have to come to the parade to see what they’ve done.
The annual Santa Claus Parade has been hosted by the Rotary Club of North Muskoka for almost 15 years. On parade night they have about 40 volunteers controlling traffic, organizing the floats, providing information to YourTV for the telecast, and carrying banners and sponsor signs in the parade.
Once the costs of the parade are covered, any additional funds from sponsors and registration fees go to charities that benefit children and youth in the community such as the Helping Hungry Students program which provides warm, nutritious meals to students three times a week.
This year’s parade will be held on Friday, November 30 beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Centre Street and travelling down Main Street/King William Street all the way to Huntsville Place Mall.
If you arrive earlier, at around 6:00 p.m., you’ll be able to catch the tree lighting ceremony, listen to the Huntsville Community Choir, and enjoy free hot chocolate provided by the merchants of the Downtown Huntsville BIA.
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Kimberly Clark is awesome.