Joel Lybbert andhis buffalo Indie will once again lead the Fort Macleod Santa Claus Parade.
Fort Macleod’s Santa Claus Parade will go ahead as planned Saturday in true winter conditions.
Cold temperatures and snow forecast for Sturday won’t put the chill on the town’s celebration.
“We strong Canadians are not deterred by a little cold,” parade co-ordinator Ashley Nelson said Tuesday. “I still expect the parade to be a fun event for the whole family.”
Fort Macleod had a high of -12 Celsius on Monday and a low of -20.
The forecast for Saturday is -17 Celsius in the morning with a high of -14 in the afternoon, with a light accumulation of snow.
The 41st Santa Claus Parade gets under way at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 30, heading north on Second Avenue, east on Main Street and south on Sixth Avenue.
“Bundle up and come on down this Saturday,” Nelson said, adding local businesses will help take off the chill with hot chocolate.
The cold weather did prompt the Calgary Round Up and Calgary Stetson bands to cancel, forced to make the decision early in the week to avoid being charged for buses.
The cold affects the mouthpieces on instruments and moisture can wreck the instruments.
“The Calgary Stampede Band has decided the show must go on and they will forge ahead regardless of the weather,” Nelson said. “They may not be able to play the majority of their instruments if the temperatures are too low but they will be drumming and singing carols for us.”
The 180-member Calgary Stampede Band will perform in the F.P. Walshe school gym at 1 p.m and the community is invited.
“The other bands are holding out hope for a chinook to roll in and warm up the area and will wait until Friday to make their final decisions,” Nelson said.
Buffalo rider Joel Lybbert and Citizens of the Year David Hughes and Cordelia Yip will lead a parade whose line-up was steadily growing as The Gazette went to press on Tuesday.
All the other events surrounding the parade are expected to go ahead as planned.
The following is a list of entries as of Tuesdayr.
Second Ave and 21st Street — Buffalo Rider Joel Lybbert and Indie; Parade Banner; Honourary Parade Marshals Citizen of the Year David Hughes and Junior Citizen of the Year Cordelia Yip driven by Don the Barber; Bridge City Highlanders; Air Cadets Colour Guard; Lethbridge Sea Cadets; RCMP; The Fort — Museum of the North West Mounted Police; Royal Canadian Legion No. 46; 2384 Kainai Royal Canadian Army Cadets; Ghost Squadron Army Truck; Foothills MP John Barlow; Livingstone-Macleod MLA Chelsae Petrovic; Fort Macleod Town Council Wagon (Town Banner); Old Town Fire Truck; MS of Willow Creek; and the Cardston High School Band.
100 Block of 15th Street — Town of Cardston; Municipality of Crowsnest Pass; Blood Tribe Recreation and Parks; White Eagle Wellness.
200 Block of 15th Street — Alberta Lodge No. 3; Buffalo Pawn; South Country Doors.
100 Block of 16th Street — Chestermere High School Band; Claresholm Thunder Hockey Club; Coca-Cola; Fort Macleod Ag Society.
200 Block of 16th Street — Fort Macleod Check-mates Car Club; Guns of the Golden West Association.
100 Block of 17th Street — Calgary Stampede Show Band; Trinity United Church; Fort Macleod Vet Clinic; CIBC.
200 Block of 17th Street — Weston Manufacturing; Southern Alberta Trail Riders Association; Head- Smashed-In Buffalo Jump; Hurlburt Rock Products.
100 Block of 18th Street — Falcan Industries; Pincher Creek Co-op; Structural Truss Systems.
200 Block of 18th Street — CLERC; Troyanda Ukrainian Dance Club; Westco Construction.
100 Block of 19th Street — The Baked Aussie; Southern Alberta Working Herding Association; Frontline Towing.
200 Block of 19th Street — Fort Macleod Rebel Riders; O’Sullivan’s Concrete; Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church; Fort Macleod and District Fish and Game.
100 Block of 20th Street — LCI Gold Jazz Band; Foothills Centre; Opokaasin Early Intervention; Guliker Vis Realty.
200 Block of 20th Street — Fort Macleod 4-H Beef Club; Santa’s Reindeer;
F.P. Walshe School Staff.
100 Block of 21st Street — Fort Macleod Fire Department; Fort Macleod EMS; F.P Walshe School Grads; Town of Fort Macleod Library.
200 Block of 21st Street — Our Lady of the Rockies High School Marching Band; Santa Claus.
Parade banner sponsors are Town of Fort Macleod, Bill Jenkins, Alberta
Lodge No. 3 The Macleod Gazette, Royal Purple, Rotary Club, Macleod Feed Wagon, Fort Macleod Lions Club, Economy Cashway Lumber, Fortis Alberta, Legion Ladies Auxiliary, Alberta Boarding House and Kustra Insurance.
