Iroquois Falls grandmother creates festive float for Mother's Day

Northern Ontario Mother's Day parade Iroquois Falls woman organizes Mother's Day parade to help the town's elderly mothers celebrate the occasion. Watch Lydia Chubak's report.

TIMMINS — This Mother's Day may be unlike any other, but one grandmother in Iroquois Falls has not let the pandemic rain on her parade.  Eveline Bourassa created a fun tribute for mothers of all ages that she hopes to bring some happiness to their hearts.

As a mom and grandmother herself, Mother's Day is a special one for Bourassa.

"My mom passed away quite a few years ago and I miss her so much," she said.

Like most of us, Bourassa is celebrating this occasion from a distance, but in a big way. For the past three weeks she, along with help from friends and her husband, worked to create a Mother's Day inspired parade float.

She borrowed female mannequins from Ambridge Antiques and dressed them up in spring attire. Below seasonal weather conditions forced her to later add parkas to keep them warm. Flowers, balloons and a bilingual 'Happy Mother's Day' sign topped it off.

"She's the instigator in the pair but she's come up with something very nice for all the mothers," said her husband Frank Bourassa, who assisted with the float. "The weather's not cooperating but that's about the only drawback."

They paraded it around town, up and down nearly every street, honking and waving past the hospital and seniors' residences.

"Anything that will help someone have a smile, make a smile, she'll do it and that's why she's doing this," says Lise Beaulne, Eveline's friend.

Their final stop was at the town's cemetery where they released balloons for all of the mothers in heaven.