Leamington's Christmas Parade Saturday at Point Pelee

By Mark Ribble

LEAMINGTON — Santa and the Missus are all set to greet visitors at this year’s Leamington District Chamber of Commerce Reverse Christmas Parade.

Organizers put the final touches on plans for the drive-thru style at Monday’s final planning meeting, where logistics, electrical, communications and route planning were high on the list of priorities.

Point Pelee National Park is hosting the parade for the first time.

Chamber General Manager Wendy Parsons is feeling good about this year’s parade, despite the obvious restrictions.

“We think people will love it,” she says. “This year’s edition will have 30 entries, so those who come out will have lots to see.”

She’s asking the viewing public to be patient, however.

“We will do our best to keep things moving,” she said. “We ask that people plan for a bit of a wait, but once we get started, things should move right along.”

The parade route will take visitors inside the park gates, where they’ll see their first parade entries at the park orientation lot. This is where you’ll drop your letters to Santa, Toys for Tots and any canned good donations.

“Canada Post, Toys for Tots and Salvation Army will all be set up there,” said Parsons.

From there, the spectators will continue down to Northwest Beach, where they will get to see a number of big entries, then view several more entries on their way to the Park Visitor Centre, where traffic will then turn around and head north. The final stop will include the Marsh Boardwalk, and then Blue Heron Picnic Area , where Mr. and Mrs. Claus will be anxiously waiting to greet old and young alike.

Parsons is asking people to not line up outside the park gates until 5:30.

“The line begins at 5:30 at the park gates,” she said. “Anyone arriving before that time will have to turn back until the line-up starts.”

The line-up will go back up Point Pelee Drive to the Bevel Line.

The place to get in line is at Bevel Line. The line-up will not be accessible from concessions B,C,D or E. Those intersections will be barricaded and will allow local traffic only. Leamington OPP will be out to help with traffic concerns.

Parsons says that after the parade, folks can go home up whatever road they want.

“Once they exit the park, they are free to use any road to exit the area and disperse,” she said. “But the only way in is through the Bevel Line and Point Pelee Drive.”

The parade starts at 6 pm and is expected to run past 8 pm.

Monique Oltrop, from Point Pelee National Park, made a good point when the discussion came up about spectators having to wait to get in.

“At a regular parade, people think nothing of waiting outside to see the floats,” she said. “Waiting inside their warm cars shouldn’t be a huge issue for them.”

She did state that once you gain entry into the park, the traffic flow should move smoothly.

“We expect that the waiting will be outside the park,” she said. “Once they’re moving, things will go quickly.”

Point Pelee is 6 km long from the gates to the Visitor Centre, so that should provide a 12 km buffer for the parade, giving them space to keep things moving.

Emergency washrooms are available at the Visitor Centre, but they are cautioning everyone to stay in their vehicles whenever possible. They are also asking that you take any garbage from your visit with you, so no undue stress is created on park staff in the clean-up process.

All-in-all, the 2020 version of the Leamington Christmas Parade should be an experience like no other, according to Parade Chair Chad Robinson.

“We had to think in a different way this year,” he said. “It was important to have the children see Santa Claus and the natural setting provided us with a spectacular opportunity.”