The ‘Help Santa Toy Parade’ will be stepping out along a brand-new route this year, but the spirit of giving in the holiday season is already shining big and bright to help those who need it the most. Hosted by the Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association, the parade will have a new look in it’s 56th year, starting at Queen Elizabeth Driveway and Somerset St West, travelling southbound along Queen Elizabeth Driveway, and ending at Lansdowne Park/TD Place. “We’ve got dancers. We’ve got the Governor General’s foot guards,” says Cameron Taylor, Parades Chair with the OPFA. “I’ll be piping down the way, along with a couple of new businesses that are putting on floats. I think Santa is looking forward to that.” The city is expecting up to 50,000 people to take in the parade. This year, to go along with the new route, Santa will also be travelling on a brand-new sleigh. “Santa’s sleigh was probably close to 40 years old,” Taylor said. “It needed a little bit of a makeover. So, we’ve been working on that, and this is the first rendition. We’re going to be continuing to improve it.” Firefighters will be collecting cash donations and unwrapped toys along the parade route to support CTV and Move 100’s Toy Mountain Campaign. “Anybody who comes can bring cash donations to put in the traditional firefighter boot. We have the ‘Tap-to-Donate’ on many of our boots for $10 per tap,” Taylor said. “People can bring a new, unwrapped gift to the parade, and they can also bring a new, unwrapped gift to any fire station in the City of Ottawa.” The parade will wrap up when Santa’s arrives at the Christmas Market at Lansdowne. “At the end, of course there will be hot chocolate a little market, and I think (Santa) is going to like all of it,” Taylor said. The parade gets underway Saturday morning at 11 a.m., and next weekend Ottawa firefighters will do it all again for the ‘Parade of Lights’ in Orléans on the night of Saturday, Nov. 29.
