Santa's getting closer!

Its near the end of November, and we have had some great weekend weather lately, but each morning, its a wee bit cooler than the previous day, so we know that winter is coming. And since it is coming, it's a good idea to make it official, with various Santa Parades around the province.
I was downtown in Toronto for the 107th addition of the Santa Claus Parade. Heading from Christie Pits on Bloor, it travels down University before heading east and ending near the St Lawarence Market.

Here's some of what I saw:

What's better than a ginger bread house decorated with Tim Horton Donuts!?!



Probably giant chocolate Turtles!! Yummy in your tummy!



The Sears Charity Bear was on hand, being driven around on a golf cart,



The always lovely Debbie Travis was part of the parade. She did the decorating for Mrs Claus float,



and also, Canadian Tire was a big part of the parade, with lots of trucks at the back of the parade,



to providing the coats for the various marshals.



Some in the crowd also wanted to give a shout of to the troops of the Canadian Armed Forces, serving overseas.



A princess and her entrorage were on hand,



There were lots of bands, including students,



some "older" students,



and members of the Police band.



And speaking of the police, the Chief, Bill Blair was on hand,



as was Mayor Rob Ford, walking the route near the start of the parade.



Santa's float was protected by the Red Coats of the RCMP.



And then the big guy himself, Ole St Nick, appeared, talking up a storm as he greeted the crowd, wishing them a Merry Christmas!



He is one of my favourite Santa's, as he always seems to pick out lots of people to give a personal greeting to!

Remember that the whole time the parade was going on, Santa was taking pictures, so make sure you check out this web site to see if your picture was taken during the parade.

Not everything was great with the parade, as there was a long line of streetcars held up on Queen St, with lots of passangers not too happy with the long delay. I was suprised that the police were not letting some through during breaks in the parade!