Organizers of yesterday's 22nd annual Santa Claus Parade have to be looking skyward this morning, to all that blue sky and all that sunshine, and wondering what they did to deserve such lousy luck.
For as perfect as it is today, Saturday was an absolute mess. A thick blanket of dark cloud hanging so low in the sky you could scarcely see the tops of the hills. Nasty little gusts of wind. And by late afternoon, a constant rain that just wouldn't let up.
And that's precisely when the 2019 parade, the first in some time to be run by the City rather than the Downtown Penticton Association, began its multi-block ramble down Main Street.
Spectator numbers were clearly down because of it. Stretches of Main were virtually empty. And who could blame those who stayed home? It was ugly, pure and simple.
But a funny thing happened along the way. Perhaps because of the darkness and the unrelenting rain, the vibe was solid.
Parade participants, for the most part, were positively bubbly. Dancers danced with abandon. Musicians played with a little extra oomph. Candy giveaway people were extra enthusiastic. And performers like the Black Widow Spinners jumped rope like they were competing.
And the crowd, wherever there was a crowd - like at the key intersection of Main and Nanaimo - responded. It was as if those in the parade and those who braved the weather to take it in had become one big happy, albeit temporary, family.
High points included the Penticton Fire Department, which gathered en masse to hand out treats and pose for photos, the Peach Fest queen and princesses, who bopped around to the music and genuinely seemed unperturbed by the rain, and the aforementioned, high-jumping Black Widow Spinners.
A special shout-out to all the participating dance groups, who pranced around like it was the middle of summer, and of course to Santa and Ms Claus, who brought up the rear of the procession and seemed even more animated than usual.
Understandably, the celebration didn’t last long afterward. Within a minute of the Clauses passing by any given spot, the sidewalks were empty.
