The holidays are in full swing across Charlotte County. On Friday night, St. Stephen hosted its annual Christmas parade down King Street and Milltown Boulevard. Over 50 local businesses, clubs and organizations entered the nearly 30-minute events.

Vicki Hogarth and Nathalie Sturgeon – Local Journalism Initiative

Despite the chilly temperature, hundreds of spectators lined the streets to take in the holiday magic, which included everything from walking gingerbread men and Santa and Mrs Claus to a tribute to Cousin Eddie from the famed holiday film Christmas Vacation. This year's theme was a "Charlotte County Country Christmas," and organizer Patty Anderson said she and her team began planning the parade months in advance. I had the honour of cohosting CHCO-TV's full coverage of the parade with Anderson. Look for it on our TV channel and online later this week.

Saint Andrews held the town's annual Christmas parade on Saturday night, but before floats took to the street, Dominique Berlenger, the owner of the Kennedy House on Water Street, served up an annual tradition of his own making Belgian poutine for free for the community. Since relocating the St. Andrews from Belgium, the Berlenger family has become part of the fabric of the community operating one of the St. Andrews' most storied inns and restaurants. Every holiday season, they like to give back to their community by sharing a piece of their homeland.

"We started it in 2022. We were closed for innovations, and that was my first parade, or at least my first full winter in St. Andrews," said Berlenger. "It's a recipe from my grandmother, so it's not mine, but we add a little bit of a Canadian twist to it. So it's fries, cheese, and we put the stew on top. And ideally, you eat it with some mayo. So don't mind the calories."

The poutine was the perfect comfort food to get the crowd ready to take in the holiday fun during the nearly 20 minute Firemen's Santa Claus Parade that travelled down Water Street before making its way up Harriet. Mayor Brad Henderson, decked out as a colourful elf, kicked off the parade alongside Lucy the Ladybug from Kingsbrae. Many joyful parade entries followed with Mr. and Mrs. Claus closing out the event in their sleigh. 

New After-School Aquatics Program in St. Stephen

The Municipal District of St. Stephen has stepped up for a group of students who lost their after-school programme. It was something the municipality's aquatics coordinator had been exploring for a little while.

"When we heard that the middle school in town had cancelled the after-school programme, we thought that it might be a good time to try and give it a test run," said Aquatics Coordinator Aaron Muzzatti.

The program is is free to students, and it focuses on engaging those who participate.

"While they're here, they might play volleyball, they'll play in the kayaks that we have, they'll do races, mannequin carries, toes, basketball, all kinds of fun stuff for them," said Muzzatti

I think it's really important for us to be just as far as outreach is concerned, for the municipality to give back a little bit to the individuals that live within it and to help get the kids who's in our community active.