The community of Coniston turned up Saturday evening for the town’s first annual Christmas parade.
The festive event was organized by the Coniston Community Action Network (CAN), which also held a tree-lighting in the community’s Centennial Park Friday evening.
Sara Kitlar-Pothier, chair of the Coniston CAN, spoke to Sudbury.com as she and her family - accompanied by Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh - prepared to ride on Santa’s float in the parade.
She said the parade included 23 floats, as well as several walking groups, bringing the number of organizations participating in the event to 29.
“Next year, we promise it will be even bigger and better than this year,” she said.
Kitlar-Pothier gave a big thanks to everyone who participated in the parade, as well as a shout-out to Lopes Ltd. for providing the vehicles and employees for the floats.
“Coniston needed a Christmas parade because we didn't have one,” she said. “We didn't have anything over the wintertime that really brings people together like this. After the past three years, I thought it was time to have something that gets everybody involved.”
Following the parade, the community was invited to the Colonial Inn in Coniston for complimentary hot chocolate and snacks courtesy of the Colonial Inn and Andrew's Valu Mart.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s associate content editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.
