Kinsmen Santa Tour an overwhelming success

 When the annual Kinsmen Santa Claus Parade was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there was some concern as to what might take its place and help make the early Christmas season brighter in these bleak times.

What the local service club came up with has outstripped even their wildest expectations.

Thousands of people of all ages lined the streets -- in safe groups, naturally -- on Saturday and Sunday night as the first-ever Kinsmen Santa Tour worked its way through the South Hill, Sunningdale and Iron Bridge neighbourhoods.

And with three nights to go, it’s only going to get better.

“We knew it was going to be good, we knew it was going to be cool and it was going to be fun, but it’s exceeded everybody’s expectations who has been involved with this,” said Cory Olafson with the Moose Jaw Kinsmen Club. “It’s exceeded our expectations, it’s exceeded Santa and Mrs. Claus’, it’s exceeded the Food Bank’s, it’s been phenomenal… The Kinsmen Facebook page has had over 21,000 views for the tour, it’s nuts the traction we’ve got out of this thing.”

The event’s format sees Santa and Mrs. Claus joined by the Moose Jaw Police Service and Moose Jaw Fire Department touring as many streets and neighbourhoods as possible -- essentially, taking the parade to the people. 

They’re joined by members of the Kinsmen and the Moose Jaw and District Food Bank, who are collecting bags of non-perishable goods for the local charity. The support in that direction has been absolutely stunning.

“We didn’t know what to expect, but even that’s been phenomenal, we have over 4,700 pounds over the two nights,” Olafson said with a tone of disbelief. “So we’re going to try and get to 10,000… if the rest of the city can help us out and bring in that much food, it would be incredibly appreciated.”

Seeing so many people out enjoying the project has been especially rewarding for everyone involved.

“I had the pleasure of riding with Kristy Tymko from the Moose Jaw Police to lead the parade and when we turned corners and the kids saw us coming, they were just jumping up and down,” Olafson said. “We saw so many people, every age group, from kids to senior citizens, even people who were pulling over and either in their car or outside of their car videoing the parade… We’d even see some people two or three times, they’ll be on the side of the road with their kids and a couple blocks later there they are again. It’s been so, so good, it couldn’t have gone any better for sure.”

The best thing? There are still plenty more opportunities to see the Jolly Old Elf.

On Friday, Dec. 4, the tour will run from Ninth Avenue Northwest to Thatcher Drive in the west; Saturday, Dec. 5 will see the centre of the city covered from Ninth Northwest to Ninth Northeast and Sunday, Dec. 6 will cover from Ninth Northeast out to the Trans Canada Highway.

The tour will start at 6 p.m. nightly and you can follow along on the interactive map on the Kinsmen Facebook page and listen to Country 100 for regular updates to know when and where to meet up with Santa.

Olafson is hoping just as many folks will come out to give Santa a wave, and just as importantly offer a donation to the Food Bank.

“We’ve covered quite a bit of the city, but there’s a lot to go, and if we can get to that 10,000 it would be really good,” he said. “Jason (Moore) from the Food Bank, he told us they were actually at the point where they were having to buy food because they didn’t have the 50,000 pounds they get at Halloween. Their shelves were getting empty and now we’re doing what we can to help them out.”