Asphodel Norwood welcomes in the Christmas season

Article content

There is nothing quite like a festive parade of floats festooned with trees, reindeers and twinkling lights to get a person into the Christmas spirit. As organizers of Norwood’s Santa Claus Parade, the Norwood Legion and Asphodel Norwood Fire and Rescue have this exercise perfected. Last weekend’s annual Santa Claus Parade did not disappoint.

Article content

There were about 20 brightly decorated floats plus most of the Fire and Rescue’s finest along with their support vehicles, the Norwood Fair Ambassador, the Junior Fair Ambassador and of course the jolly old elf himself with his missus making their way through the village’s side streets on the evening of November 30 to officially kick of the Christmas Season in the township. The parade, themed as “A Small Town Christmas” concluded at the fairgrounds where spectators and participants were treated to a fantastic display of fireworks provided by the fire department, before making their way across the grounds to the Norwood Legion to enjoy some hot chocolate and a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Article content

Recommended Videos

Article content

Parade participants generally engage in a little good natured competition to see who can come up with the biggest and brightest entry and this year the title was well earned by Norwood’s St. Paul Elementary School who pulled out all the stops creating their winning entry. Second prize went to Norwood’s Pentecostal Church for their Reason for the Season entry. Rounding out the top three was the festive entry from the Norwood Minor Sports and their creative crew. The Legion extends a big thank you to everyone who entered a float, special thanks to the Norwood fire and rescue for the incredible fireworks display, for leading the parade and for traffic control and finally a special thanks to all who came out to watch and enjoy the festivities on a chilly evening.

Article content

The legion also added a new feature this year, an indoor vendors market in the legion’s main hall. By all accounts it was a good success as visitors had the opportunity to shop for unique gifts and goodies before and after the parade.

Asphodel Norwood also made a change to their annual Holiday Night Market by having its 2025 return earlier than usual to correspond with the parade. The town was a busy place with good crowds visiting the various vendors set up in the Town Hall and the downtown stores that stayed open late to take part in the festivities. The Norwood branch of the Asphodel Norwood Library was also participating with a variety of special activities for the kids.

The countdown to Christmas has officially begun in Asphodel Norwood.

Article content

Church Bazaar

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 19 Flora St. Norwood will host their annual Christmas Bazaar this Saturday, December 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The local historic church (the corner stone was set in place in 1878) also took part in the last weekend’s annual Santa Claus Parade. A creative crew and very willing child labour constructed a special float to commemorate to 60th anniversary of the church’s annual shortbread fundraiser. St. Andrew’s is quite famous for its Christmas time buttery biscuits, for six decades church members have been rolling out, cutting out, baking and packing shortbread cookies to help raise funds for various projects in the church. The children sparkled in their costumes, dressed up like cookies in the well-known shapes that the church has used for their biscuits since 1965. Also proving that somethings (for the best in this case) never change, the church has also been using the same Scottish shortbread recipe for the last 60 years.

Article content

There will be a limited supply of their shortbread available at the bazaar (Shortbread pre-orders can also be picked up the same day). Vendors will include Ten Thousand Villages, homemade quilts, a jumble table and more. There will also be a few raffle prizes and of course their traditional lunch served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. featuring homemade soups and dessert all for only $8. There is no cost to visit the bazaar itself. It also needs to be noted that this is the last Christmas bazaar of the season in the area, don’t miss out!

Keene Community Tree Lighting

Some news from our neighbours to the west: On Saturday December 6, at 6 p.m. a longstanding Keene tradition will be reborn when the large blue spruce tree in front of the Keene Library and Historical Society, 3252 County Road 2, will be lit up for the holiday season. This will be the final event of a very successful year of activities hosted by the Keene 200 Committee. The tree was planted in memory of Margo and Ian Nelson, children of Jack and Gayle Nelson and will be rededicated to all the past, present and future children of Otonabee-South Monaghan. There will be seasonal singing led by the Oakridge Four, the winners of the House Decorating Competition, sponsored by the OSM Historical Society will also be announced and of course no evening of festivities would be complete without a few refreshments to enjoy.

Article content