This Saturday will make it official – the Christmas season is upon us in Brant. And we here at Brant News couldn’t be more excited for that special time of year characterized by goodwill and good cheer.

Thousands will gather on Brantford streets as the 38th annual JCI Santa Claus Parade winds its way through town on Saturday evening (details about the parade and a community after-party can be found in a story included in this week’s Brant News) and there are plenty of good reasons to attend.

First and foremost is the fact that Brantford’s Santa Claus parade is a display of community spirit arguably unequalled any time of year.

This year’s Santa Claus Parade will include more than 40 floats and seven marching bands from across Ontario, as well as a few holiday surprises, we’re sure. The community organizations and businesses that invest time and resources into taking part in the parade deserve much credit for helping create a special night.

This year, we here at Brant News have teamed up with Community Resource Service to collect non-perishable food items along the parade route, with local dignitaries helping out by pushing grocery carts we’re hoping will be overflowing with donations by the time the parade wraps up. If you are attending the parade, please plan to bring along a food item and drop it in the cart when we pass by.

Some would argue the most important reason to attend Saturday’s parade (we’re looking at you kids) is that Santa himself will make his official arrival in Brant for the holiday season. During an exclusive interview from the North Pole this week, Santa shared an important message for Brant News readers that will surely help all enjoy a merrier Christmas season, which can quickly become hectic, even stressful for some.

“Enjoy the good feelings and the positive attitude of the Christmas season,” Santa said.

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. And Saturday’s JCI Santa Claus Parade offers a great place to start.