Ken and I were invited to join the official Lighting of the Lights at Victoria Park this year, as co-emcees with our colleague, CTV’s Nick Paparella. Nick has done it for so many years that we pretty much rode his coat tails through the program of live music and a couple of short speeches.
This was us backstage as Sarah Smith and Doug Varty were singing to the crowd. Can you see my little Santa hat?
Last year around this time, our friend Eric was visiting from Charlotte, North Carolina, and we walked through Victoria Park one evening. Kids were lined up to visit Santa. The free skating rink was busy. With the huge trees lit up and Christmas music in the background, it was like a scene out of a movie.
Having a backstage and on-stage vantage point this year as the trees lit up was kind of magical. Perhaps my favourite part was when Santa Claus joined us to wave hello before opening his house to families. The children on stage with us were in shock. One little girl couldn’t make her voice-box work. She pointed at Santa and looked around for validation that she was actually seeing him. The final sing-along with Sarah, Doug, Glen Bennett, Denise Pelley and a few thousand of our closest friends was something I won’t soon forget. Now I know how the Grinch felt when his heart grew three sizes that day.