A parade of cars may replace the procession of floats for this year鈥檚 Surrey Santa Parade of Lights.
Paul Orazietti, executive director for the Cloverdale BIA, and chief organizer for the annual event, said the regular parade won鈥檛 happen, but added a car-only event may occur in December.
鈥淲e cannot encourage people to stand on the side of the road and stand beside each other,鈥� said Orazietti. 鈥淲e have to answer a couple of questions about a possible drive-through parade, but hopefully within a week or so we鈥檒l be able to formally announce if it will go ahead or not.鈥�
The idea is that a parade of cars would stream through the fairgrounds on a one-way circuit to view all the static floats.
鈥淲e started talking to everyone [involved with the parade] and they all said they wanted to do something,鈥� noted Orazietti.
He said the idea for a drive-through parade of lights came on the heels of a car show at the Tradex building in Abbotsford.
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鈥淭he vehicles were put inside and people drove through to view the cars,鈥� explained Orazietti. 鈥淪o I called the guy at the rodeo and he said, 鈥榶eah, that sounds cool.鈥� After that, the biggest roadblock then was the City, but I called them and they said, 鈥榃ow! What a great idea.鈥欌��
Orazietti added that they鈥檝e already mapped out the route cars would take on the fairgrounds, looked at how many people they can handle at once, and studied how they would keep traffic flowing smoothly.
Would u consider going to the 2020 Surrey Santa Parade if it is a drive thru event (floats parked along the road on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds) on Sat. Dec. 5th
鈥� Paul Orazietti (@Paradeguy)
鈥淚t鈥檚 premature to say it will go ahead, because we still have some logistics to work out,鈥� said Orazietti. 鈥淏ut if we do, ultimately, people could drive into the fairgrounds down by the Truck Museum鈥攖here鈥檇 be people there accepting donations for the same charities we always support, the food bank, the Christmas Bureau, the Cloverdale Kitchen, and the Rodeo Foundation鈥攁nd they鈥檇 be able to wind their way along in their vehicles and enjoy viewing the floats.鈥�
Orazietti said he鈥檚 had good feedback already from an informal Facebook survey.
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鈥淲e had over 16,000 responses and the bulk have been very positive. Some have suggested a two-day event. So we are looking at few different scenarios.鈥�
NIGHT LIGHTS
In other BIA news, Orazietti said he鈥檚 one step away from installing new lighting on 176th Street.
鈥淲e鈥檙e waiting on one last technical report from the manufacturer.鈥�
The retro, tungsten-style lights would be strung across the street at numerous points from lamppost to lamppost鈥攎uch like Cloverdale had in the 1960s (see Surrey Archives picture)鈥攐n 176th Street between Highway 10 and 58A Avenue. He said lights will also go up in Hawthorne Square.
According to Orazietti, the BIA is covering the cost for the lights, but he鈥檚 hoping the City can donate the power.
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鈥淥ver a five-year time period, these lights have 100,000 hours of life.鈥�
He said the automatic-sensor lights will come on in the early evening and shut off sometime after 11 p.m.
鈥淚t鈥檚 decorative lighting. We want to make the area brighter,鈥� Orazietti explained. 鈥淭he idea is that we create a light canopy.鈥�
Orazietti said he doesn鈥檛 have a timeline for when the lights will be installed, but he thinks they鈥檒l be put in sometime in the next month or so.
editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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