Saturday, December 04, 2004
An annual holiday tradition for us for several years running now. The local Lions club does a nice job of setting up some lights in a couple of trees in Kew Beach park, and invites everyone in the neighbourhood to come around and sing carols by the stage. All the local dignitaries come out (the local MP, MPP, and the trusties of the school boards) and for several years running local musician Lenny Graf leads the sing-a-longs. For the kids Santa himself and Mrs. Claus put in an appearance at the end, handing out candy-canes to all the kids and singing the final "We Wish You a Merry Xmas" carol.
No Erika this year, as she was out practicing her trumpet for one of several upcoming recitals coming up, so it was a solo Dad effort to take the girls to the event.
The turn-out this year was smaller than in previous years, mainly due to the fact that up until an hour before, it was pouring rain. This ended up being a boon for those who did turn out, and I manage to stake out a spot close to the stage. Got both girls one of those chemical glow-sticks the Lions were handing out for a donation, so I had Annie perched on my shoulders waving her purple glow stick and singing along to the songs while. (A local photographer took some shots of Annie and me, so will have to see if anything turns up in the local paper). Vanessa was up by the fence in front of the stage with some of her friends. Vanessa had made a picture especially for Santa and tried to hand it to him when he came to the stage, but he was too busy to take it. She was understandably a bit upset about that, but I told her that we would leave it out for him when he came by on Xmas day.
A fun, hokey ceremony that had everybody happy by the end of it. Annie walked home singing the words she remembered to the Xmas carols (and made up words where she didn't know them) all the way home.
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