Location:
Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada. History:
The first iteration of the Santa Clause Parade in Selkirk was cancelled by its organizers in December 2005. Typically, this parade occurred during the daytime with varying and low participation by its final year. Upon hearing of the cancellation of future parades, Eva Magnusson, who was 74 years old at the time, was very concerned that the children and
the community would no longer have a Santa parade. After several discussions with representatives of the city, Eva made the decision to become the new parades Chairperson and Organizer. She rebranded it the "Santa Parade Of Lights". Her vision was first and foremost that Santa would be in attendance for the kids, that the parade would take place in the evening, and everything would be twinkling and lit up with thousands of Christmas lights. Eva had initial doubters in the beginning who questioned if she could accomplish this, to them she said "You just watch me". The first Santa Parade Of Lights was then held in 2006 and was organized by Eva all the way through to her last year in 2018. This helped solidify her to be known affectionately as Mrs. Eva then passed on the duties of the parade to The Selkirk Biz, who were able to organize the parade for one more year in 2019. Due to public restrictions, the parade was not able to resume again. Sadly, Eva Magnusson passed away in June of 2022. Later that September, the Selkirk Biz had indicated they were unable to commit to the parade any longer. Upon hearing this, Eva Magnusson's grandson, Jon Skrypnyk, stepped forward and the duties of Chairperson and Organizer were passed on to him. The Santa Parade Of Lights once again took place in December 2022, which marked it’s 15th Anniversary since its inception. Mission:
Bring the joy of Santa and the holidays to the city, for all the children and families. To provide an evening for everyone in the community to come together to share in greetings, celebration and enjoy the twinkling of thousands of Christmas lights. Website/Social Media:
https://www.facebook.com/SantaParadeOfLights
https://www.instagram.com/SantaParadeOfLights
Contact:
Jon Skrypnyk (Chairperson)
[email protected]
