Pouce Coupe’s effort to get a new Christmas parade keeps on trucking.
This Friday, village residents will soon see vehicles drive down their streets covered in Christmas lights, said the village’s deputy administrator Carol Bishop.
The truck light parade, the first of its kind in the village, was inspired by similar efforts done in Victoria, B.C.
The event hopes to feature vehicles covered in brightly coloured Christmas lights driving through Pouce Coupe after the sun has gone down.
The event will also coincide with the regular efforts by Pouce Coupe to light up their village’s municipal buildings, including the Fire Hall and village office, which are located closely to each other.
“We always do the Christmas lighting,” said Bishop. “We thought, maybe let’s pick it up a notch this year… it’ll add to our annual Christmas light-up and be something that people from the around the area will want to attend.”
Bishop also said that the event will attempt to improve the perception of the heavy trucks that come through the village.
“Sometimes they get a bad rep,” she said. “Let’s put a positive spin on them.”
So far, about a dozen vehicles have come forward to participate in the parade, including some vehicles from Pouce Coupe contractors H.F. Nodes Construction.
Joe Nodes, a co-owner of Nodes Construction, said that his company plans to put in a gravel truck.
“It’s a fun thing and it’s for community support.”
The Truck Light Parade is not just related to heavy haulers, however, and the village office is still looking for more vehicles.
“We’ll accept anybody… we’ll go with whatever we have,” said Bishop.
The event will also feature a number of children events, sleigh rides, and a non-perishable food drive. It will even feature a visit from a certain big red visitor from the North Pole.
Bishop said that so far, the community has responded well to the planned event.
“It’s just difficult in the winter to do something in the winter that people are going to go out and watch for any period of time,” she said. “People are really excited to come out and see this, and we hope to build upon it every year.”
The cost of admission is a donation to the Food Bank/Salvation Army. The festivities began at 4:30 p.m., with the Truck Light Parade happening at around 6:30 p.m., according to the Pouce Coupe website.
