The Santa Claus Parade

 

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  111 Queen's Park
Date:  November 2022
Website:  thesantaclausparade.com

  In 1904 Santa Claus walked from Union Station to the Eaton's store on Queen Street West. In 1905 there was a single float that carried Santa Claus to the Eaton's store.  The Santa Claus Parade was born.  Each year it marks the arrival of Santa Claus to Toronto.  Santa is here to find out what good children would like for Christmas.  We had not seen the parade in person for many years.  This year we headed downtown to join in the fun.

    Before the parade even starts, you can watch the Holly Jolly Fun Run.  Runners race along the same 5 km route as the parade, in order to raise money.  The majority of runners usually do the run dressed in holiday costumes.

     Finally, we caught sight of the parade coming down University Avenue.  The first to arrive were the Celebrity Clowns.  These clowns have all made a donation to help support the parade.  You never know who might be under all that makeup and wigs.

 

    The parade is made up of many floats towed behind vehicles.  One of the oldest floats is Mother Goose.  A Mother Goose float first appeared in the parade in 1917 and this year was no exception.

 

   The Toronto Police are always a big part of the parade.  Toronto Police do crowd control to keep the parade goers safe.  Sometimes the attendance at the parade can reach almost a half million people.  The Toronto Police also show off some of their classic vehicles like this 1957 Chevy in bright yellow.

    Our favourite Toronto Police car will always be Blinky.  Blinky used to be bright yellow, but when the car colours were changed to white with a red and blue stripe, so did Blinky.  Blinky also used to talk and of course blink those big eyes.

 

     The Toronto Police Mounted Unit also took part in the parade.

    With horses always comes the need for a clean-up crew.  Toronto's Mayor John Tory volunteered for the job.  There are lots of marching bands yet to come that don't need to be dodging road apples.

    Here comes one of the bands now.  The Ridley College Cadets are just one of the bands keeping the crowd moving to Christmas classics.  Bands come from all over Ontario for the honour of being part of the parade.

    Another parade float tells the creation story.  In the story, a flood takes over the land and a muskrat dives to the bottom of the water and grabs some earth.  The earth is then placed on the back of a turtle forming North America or what is also called Turtle Island.

    Other floats didn't have as quite a meaningful story behind them.  This one is simply a lion enjoying a toboggan ride.  Most floats have corporate sponsors who help keep the parade going each year.  This float was sponsored by Royal Bank of Canada.

    The majority of the floats have a holiday or winter theme.  The float above features two polar bears and a reindeer.

    This float features a few of Santa's reindeer in the horn section.

    The McDonald's float also featured some musical woodland creatures out in the snow.

    A few floats required a little more thought to see how they connect to Christmas.  How about this 123Dentist float?  All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.  And of course the Tooth Fairy is a close personal friend of Santa Claus.

 

   How about this float full of creamy garlic and pizza?  Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day.  Especially for that grass skirt wearing pineapple pizza.  At St. Lawrence Market, where the parade ends, Pizza Pizza was giving out slices to all of the volunteers who braved the cold and helped make the parade a success.

    The volunteers walk the parade in all sorts of costumes like the pink octopus costumes above.

 

 

    There was a group of snowmen.  Don't worry the weather was below freezing on parade day.

 

     There was a flock of blue jays.  Some parade goers might have been disappointed that none of these blue jays were part Toronto's baseball team.

    A favourite costume is the upside down clowns, or this year upside down monkeys.  You try walking nearly five kilometres on your hands!

    Mrs. Claus is also a big part of the parade.  After seeing Mrs. Claus, we know it won't be very long until Santa arrives.  

 

 

    A Peanuts float featuring Charlie Brown and Snoopy was sponsored by Canada's Wonderland and their Winterfest event.  In 2020 and 2021 the parade took place at Wonderland.  This year the parade finally returned to the Toronto streets to perform live.

    The parade takes about an hour to an hour and a half in order to pass any particular spot.  We saw a float turn the corner and realized it was being led by a group of reindeer.   Santa had finally arrived!   We recommend the Toronto Santa Claus parade as one of the biggest and longest running parades in the world.  Just remember to dress warmly and keep moving.  Most importantly, no matter what age you actually are, we can all be kids at the parade. Merry Christmas everyone!

---

Map of Our World
The Santa Claus Parade

---

Post # 318

Canadian Tire Turns 100

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  169 Bastedo Avenue
Date:  July 2022
Website:  www.canadiantire.ca

  This year Canadian Tire is celebrating their 100 year anniversary.  Canadian Tire stores sell more than just tires and have been providing automotive, hardware, houseware and sporting good needs to Canadians for a century.  As part of the celebrations, they worked with local residents in order to turn a Toronto street into a giant beach party for the Canada Day weekend.  Up and down Bastedo Avenue there were giant inflatable pool floats on every front lawn.

   We are not sure how the theme for each yard was chosen.  Did the homeowners help set up the displays or did Canadian Tire send in a team?  There were lots of yards with flamingo filled displays.

     Some of the flamingoes were more chill than the others.  The flamingoes above were taking part in a yoga session. 

     Another popular theme was dinosaurs.  In the corporate world some may say that Canadian Tire is a dinosuar.  Meaning that the company is old, not that it is no longer relevant.

 

  Canadian Tire is far from extinct.  Despite being one hundred years old, their website boasts over 500 stores and that 90 % of all Canadians are only 15 minutes away from a Canadian Tire store.

  Parked up and down the street were some brightly painted pickup trucks.  This blue truck was full of ice cream.

    This pink truck was carrying a load of Canadian Tire beach balls.

    There was a yellow truck carrying a flamingo, a pineapple and a pair of crocodiles.

    Seeing a unicorn was not an unsual thing on Bastedo Avenue that day.  The largest unicorn floaties were up to 16 feet long and could hold about 5 adults.  One of them would take up the whole pool and leave no room for little Johnnie to test out his water wings.

    One of the yards had a nice display with a single peacock in front of their bushes.

 

    Other yards did not subscribe to the theory that less is more.  This yard had quite the flock and variety of birds.  If Canadian Tire is offering you free lawn ornaments why say no?

 

    Another yard had a whale and a variety of umbrellas.  Luckily the weather was perfect all weekend or this display may have been picked clean by people needing to "borrow" an umbrella.

    We started to get a bit hungry as we walked past donuts that were half eaten by grazing llamas.

    We started to feel like we needed some refreshment after looking at all these displays of watermelons, pineapples and pink lemonade coloured flamingoes.  

    Thankfully at the top of Bastedo Avenue you can find Gelato On The Danny which can stop hunger and provide refreshment all in one shot.  With gelato cups in hand we headed back south through the beach party once more.

   A sign beside a giant snail told us to walk slow.  Not a problem now as we worked on eating spoonfulls of our gelato.  We were wondering how these floaties stayed upright and if you just kind of hung through the snail shell.  Then we checked the Canadian Tire website and realized these are actually sprinkler snails.  You hook it up to your hose and jump through the hoop to beat the summer heat.

    There was one yard where a group of inflatable cows had been properly fenced in.  Much safer than the flamingoes, unicorns and dinosaurs allowed to just roam free in other front yards.

    One driveway had a different approach.  Someone has drawn a 3D chalk drawing of a canoe headed over a tall waterfall.  These types of drawings mess with your perspective and trick your mind.  We are not sure if the chalk was donated by Canadian Tire.

    There was a yard which had killer whales inside canoes and on a floatation device.  We are not sure why these intelligent creatures would need this mode of transport when they are such excellent swimmers.  Most likely they had just recently displaced the human occupants.

     Canadian Tire has called this their Summer Of The Century Celebration.  We hope they have more events like this across Canada so everyone gets a chance to help them ring in their one hundreth year.

---

Map of Our World
Summer Of The Century Celebration

---

Post # 313

Moose In The City

   In the year 2000, Toronto mayor Mel Lastman and the founder of McDonald's Canada decided to unleash about 300 moose into the city.  Originally, businesses purchased a fibreglass moose and it was uniquely painted by an artist. Now over 22 years later these moose can still be found popping up in unexpected places.   This is a list of the moose we have managed to track down, in no particular order.  Most of them can be found in Ontario, Canada. Visit them while you can as you never know when they may be off to a new home.

1 ) World Famous Moose  (1 McDonald's Place, North York)

    This moose stands outside McDonald's Canada Headquarters.  Its plaque says it is "World Famous Moose".  We think it should be called Ronald McMoose after the character it resembles.

   As an added bonus, this moose is located right next to a giant McCafe coffee cup.

2)  Lucky Moose  (393 Dundas Street West, Toronto)

    Lucky Moose stands on top of the Lucky Moose Food Mart.  The market might even have been named after the moose.  The logo on the sign however, has the horns of a cow.

3)  ATS Moose  (100 Vaughan Valley Blvd, Woodbridge)

 

    This all red moose stands in front of ATS Healthcare which provides temperature controlled transportation for medical purposes.

4)  Bay Street Moose  (4241 Dundas St W, Etobicoke)

    This moose is wearing his best suit and is ready for some wheeling and dealing on Bay Street.  When the day is done he is up on the roof of Gibson's Cleaners to get his suit dry cleaned.

5)  Yellow Moose  (1900 Steeles Ave W, Concord)

An all yellow moose with a few blue highlights stands out front of Alpa Lumber Group.

6)  Impact Tools Moose  (1170 The Queensway, Etobicoke) 

 

 

    Another all yellow moose is up on the roof of Impact Tools.  This one is wearing some sort of protective vest.

7)  Santa Moose  (50 Bonnie Dr, Simcoe, ON)

 

   Out in Simcoe, Ontario they do a special Christmas Panorama each winter.  Santa Moose who originally stood outside Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto makes a special appearance every year.

8)  Bluewinkle Moose  (8200 Warden Ave., Unionville)

     This moose is rumoured to be in the lobby area of the IBM Canada Software Lab.  This is a private company building so we are not sure if we will ever manage a visit before this moose moves on.

  9)  Centreville Moose  (Centreville Amusement Park, Toronto Islands)

   This moose we know is no longer where we spotted it many years ago.  We were busy taking pictures of the touring cars we enjoyed riding in as children when this moose snuck into the shot.

  10) Cherry Shirt Moose  (1405 Denison St, Markham)

 

    This moose is wearing a cherry shirt, jean shorts and little red shoes. Also maybe too much blush?

10 ) CuJo Moose  (1037 Little Britain Rd, Little Britain)

      This moose out in the town of Little Britain is named after legendary Toronto Maple Leaf goalie Curtis Joseph.  While you are there you can get some sweet treats at the Buttertarts 'N More store.

11 ) Florence Moosingale  (396 Moore Ave, Toronto)

 

    This moose is located outside of Integracare. Integracare provides health care services.  The moose was named after Florence Nightingale who was the founder of modern nursing.  Florence Moosingale could be the founder of modern moosing.

12 ) St. Clement's Moose  (21 St Clements Ave, Toronto)

    St. Clement's is a private school for girls and at least one moose.  This moose is all dressed up in the school uniform.

 

13 ) Global Moose  (222 Bremner Blvd, Toronto)

 

    This moose was found inside the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.  He is wearing a nice suit with flags from around the world.

 

14 ) Mountie Moose  (430 Pine St, Waubaushene)

 

     This moose used to be seen hanging around the CN Tower but has since changed locations.  He was all dressed up like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  When a beloved moose mascot named Wauby was damaged at a truck stop in Waubaushene, the Mountie was sent in to save the day. 

15 ) Angus Moose  (231 Mill St, Angus)

     Formerly known as Marty, this moose is now called Angus after the town where it resides.  At some point it was placed above the drive-thru of the local McDonald's.  It was repainted by local students when it moved from its original home at the Universal Studios offices in North York.

16 ) Northwest Moose  (20 Wynford Drive, Toronto)

      This moose is blue and white and stands outside a medical centre just across the steet from the Aga Khan Museum.  

17 ) Incredible Moose  (30 St. Regis Crescent N, North York)

     This colourful moose is standing outside of Incredible Printing.  It has different type faces on it.

 

18 ) Zeus Moose  (169 South Rd, Devonshire, Bermuda)

     This moose is not in Ontario, Canada.  He can be found wearing his Bermuda shorts in the land that invented them.   He moved from Canada to the Bermuda Botanical Gardens, in Bermuda of course.

19 ) Sweet Molly's Moose  (352 Queen St E, Unit #1, Acton)

     This moose can be found hanging out inside a British bake shop surrounded by sweet treats.

  

20 ) Canadian Crane Moose Trio  (60 Saunders Rd, Barrie)

 

     These three moose can be seen on the roof of the Canadian Crane building as you head northbound into Barrie on the 400 Highway.  We haven't had a chance to get a good photo yet.  We are either speeding past headed north or distracted as we slowly stop and start headed southbound with the cottage country traffic.  Perhaps the Good Life Fitness parking lot on the west side of Highway 400 would give us a good view to finally get a picture. 

21 ) Green & Ross Moose  (3899 Highway 7, Woodbridge)

     This green moose is outside of an Active Green + Ross Tire And Automotive Centre.  

22 ) Stanley Moose  (St Leonards Ave and Mount Pleasant Rd, Toronto)

     This moose can be spotted looking off of the roof of a private residence along Mount Pleasant Road.  

23 ) Police Moose  (40 College St, Toronto)

     Police Moose is ready to serve and protect at the Toronto Police Headquarters.  He even has a moose calf with him helping to keep watch over the Police Museum.   

241 ) Kennedy Road Moose  (2 Antrim Crescent, Scarborough)

 

     The Kennedy Road Business Association sponsors this moose.  The moose thanks you for supporting the many businesses located between Lawrence Avenue and the 401.

 

  

25 ) Excalibur Moose  (100 Princes' Blvd , Toronto)

 

     This moose was found hiding down the hallway on the far east end of the Enercare Centre (Formerly Direct Energy Centre).  He has scenes from years of the Canadian National Exhibition painted on his body.  He also has golden antlers and wears a crown.

 

Well, there are all the moose that we have found for you.  Only a couple of hundred more to go.  If anyone has recently found a missing moose let us know in the comments.  We will update this list if we locate any more on our travels.

---

Map of Our World

Moose In The City Toronto Map , Moose In The City World Map

---

Post # 311