ALMA – It may be hard to believe, but Santa Claus himself chose Alma for one of his final visits before returning to the North Pole, ahead of a busy Dec. 25 schedule.
Santa first stopped in at the Alma Community Centre on Dec. 21 to fuel up with breakfast in advance of the community’s afternoon “tractors, tots and toys” parade, meeting children keen for last-minute requests.
Alma Optimist Club members prepared pancakes, sausages, juice, coffee and presented childrens’ activities.
Cash donations were collected at the event to support club programming for youth.
In the afternoon, a parade as long as the village itself departed from the community centre along Alma’s main street.
Spectators lined Elora Street as brightly decorated tractors, farm machinery and other floats paraded by.
Ponies, horse-drawn floats, and heavy horses, including Percherons and Clydesdales, also made appearances – along with a couple unicyclists.
“Santa is always the last person in the parade but folks never know how he will arrive or what he will ride on in the parade – it’s always a surprise,” Optimist Club member Sharon Grose previously told the Advertiser.
By the time the lead float returned to the community centre, Santa was bringing up the rear, waving from atop a John Deere disc ripper, and rounding out his final Wellington County appearance of 2025.
