Rev up and decorate your all-terrain vehicle (ATV) quad — or ATV trike, riding mower or golf cart — for the seventh annual Toledo Santa Quad Parade, scheduled to help ring in the Christmas season on Saturday, Dec. 6, according to a Toledo Parks Board news release.
Participants are set to start lining up at 4 p.m. at the Toledo Middle School, located at 155 N. Fifth St., with the parade set to start at 5 p.m.
Those interested in being in the parade must sign up ahead of time and sign a liability waiver, available online at https://tinyurl.com/3uuwrkpx. Those on riding mowers must have the decks lifted.
Once it begins, participants will drive their decorated and light-up quads, trikes, mowers or golf carts through the South Lewis County community, with the parade route ending at Kemp Olson Memorial Park where hot chocolate and more await, Toledo Park Board Chair Elizabeth Buell stated in the release.
“I have met with the high school principal Mr. (Shawn) Leggett and he, along with the wood shop teacher and art teacher, have agreed to build cutout boards from plywood that the Mayor (Cherie Devore) bought and donated with her own money,” Buell said in the release. “There will be three cutout boards for at the end of the parade when we all meet up at the Kemp Olson Park for hot chocolate, candy canes, and some caroling! We are printing out a few songs for anyone in the community who wants to sing! We will also have a fire going in the covered kitchen building at the park to keep warm.”
First held in 2019, the Toledo Santa Quad Parade was organized by former Toledo Mayor Steve Dobosh after he noticed nobody was showing up to the city’s Christmas tree-lighting ceremony.
“With help from Nora Nichols and other city officials, the word was spread about the possibility of a parade where we could ride our decorated quads and side-by-sides to the tree-lighting ceremony. The first parade happened December 2019 and originally ended at the gazebo near the boat launch,” Buell said.
Last year, Devore changed the parade’s ending location to Kemp Olson Park, where she supplied hot chocolate and candy canes for everyone.
“We hope to continue to make this event better and better every year,” Buell added. “We hope to bring the community together in festive cheer.”
For more information, follow the official Toledo Santa Quad Parade Facebook page at https://tinyurl.com/4nz5vncu.
