While the theme of the 46th annual Knights of Pythias Christmas Parade is Walt Disney, the group is taking a third crack at re-writing the Guinness World Record books.
The annual parade takes place in Wallaceburg on Nov. 14 at 2 p.m.
Jerry Blake said they are once again hoping to break the record for most lawn tractors in a parade.
“Lawn mowers are coming along good, they can be lawn mower or a garden tractor,” he said. “People are under the idea they have to take blades off, take decks off. You don’t have to take anything off or unhook anything. You just can’t turn it on during the parade for safety reasons.”
The 10 categories for prizes this year include:
1. Oldest unrestored
2. Oldest restored
3. Red neck
4. Hot rod
5. Most outrageous
6. Best in parade theme
7. Farthest travelled
8. Hard luck
9. Most creative
10. Most ingenuitive
The record currently sits at over 800. Back in 2013, the Wallaceburg parade included nearly 300 lawn tractors.
For more information about the lawn mower portion of the event, people can reach Blake at 519-358-3983 or by email at blakeynsons@hotmail.ca.
Bob Mix, the overall chair of the parade, said there is no cost to enter a float into the parade, and it will have a ton of features.
“It’s a Walt Disney theme,” he said. “We are going to have a lot of floats and specialities. The Shiners, lots of bands. We have got a band coming from Port Huron… They are really good. Everything else is coming along.”
Mix added there will be three prizes for first, second and third.
Mix said the K of P relies on donations from the community to make the parade happen.
“Donations… without them, we can’t do anything and the more money we get, the better we can have it. We have a guy coming from the other side of Wheatley from Huntley’s Cotton Candy. They are coming and they are going to be selling cotton candy and popcorn already bagged.”
Blake said donation cans are placed all around town.
“The banks, variety stores, restaurants if people want to donate they can put money in the cans,” Blake said. “We collect them every week, empty them out and put them back. So those are all over town.”
Mix said registration forms for the parade are all over town as well, and were recently printed in the Courier Press.
“They are all over the place,” he said. “They can fill it out and bring it up here (to the K of P hall at the corner of Nelson Street and Wellington) and put it in the mailbox.”
Mix said they are encouraging people to come with their floats early at around 1 p.m. to get setup on Arnold Street.
Mix said the route will follow the same path as usual, down Dufferin, right onto Nelson and then wrapping up at the St. Clair Catholic District School Board parking lot on Duncan Street.
“We just hope everybody comes out and has a good time, the more the better,” Mix said.
Breakfast with Santa will also be taking place this year before the parade at the K of P hall from approximately 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Blakey n’ Sons is donating money to pay for the first 500 children. Santa will also be there, and a photographer will be on hand to snap photos of children with Santa.
Watch for more details and information leading up to the parade.
– File photo
