The Surrey Santa Parade of Lights shone through Cloverdale's downtown streets Dec. 1 and it was the largest parade Paul Orazietti has every organized.
"It was just under a kilometre in length, bumper-to-bumper," he said. "And we received a lot of donations for the (Cloverdale) Community Kitchen. They were the main recipient of all the generosity."
Orazietti, the executive director of the Cloverdale BIA and the parade’s organizer-in-chief, said parade-goers were very generous as he asked those coming down to the parade to bring a non-perishable food item or an new, unwrapped toy to donate to CCK and three other charities for their outreach programs.
"It was the largest parade we've ever had," he added. "The city estimated there were 10,000 people there."
He said overall the event was "amazing" and he's gotten nothing but compliments. He said the parade brought together meany disparate groups in good Christmas spirit and for a good cause. He noted they had a wide variety of floats, including entries from every part of the Surrey community.
"A personal highlight for me was realizing how many people want to make this community a special place," Orazietti added. "Also, when you go by and see all the little people—and they're all standing in the middle of the road, excited—you know you're doing the right thing. It's not like it's Macy's [parade] or some other big dollar event, this is just normal folks celebrating Christmas and making their community a better place."
He said he's always surprised at the parade’s growth from year-to-year, both in number of paraders and parade-goers.
Orazietti thinks people are drawn to the event because of its grassroots, community nature. He feels it will continue to get bigger and better and attract even more spectators and participants.
He said the Surrey Santa Parade of Lights has never just been about the parade. He doesn't have numbers yet, but he said they took in a lot of donations for the charities the parade is supporting this year: the Cloverale Christmas Hamper Program, the Surrey Food Bank, the Fraser Valley Regional Food Bank, and the Surrey Christmas Bureau.
Orazietti set up donation bins in Hawthorne Square and at Wyndham Estates, a residential property on 176A Street, just north of 58A Avenue. He said parade-goers filled bins with non-perishable food items and new toys.
“As I always say, it's a community event driven by and supported by its members," he explained. "It's people helping people and we get to celebrate at the same time."
