Above: Eggs and bacon are Teresa and Tim Jones, the parade marshals. Right top: Spider-Man is James Troccoli and the fireman is Noah Medri. Bottom: Serena Powell. Photos by Michael McCabe
By Kathy Rowe
Due to the pandemic, Halloween 2020 was cancelled by the City of Toronto just days before October 31.
“We had four boxes of candy in the house and we figured everyone else was in the same boat. The kids already had their costumes!” said Pieter, who lives on Holmcrest Trail with his wife Jackie and their daughter Grace. “Circumstances forced us to improvise, so we decided to put it out there and see if anyone else would like to donate their candy and deliver it to the kids in the neighbourhood.” In the process of talking about keeping the spirit of Halloween alive, the idea of a parade was born.
Pieter and Jackie got busy with the help of neighbours, and notices were dropped off to all of the mailboxes in the four-street subdivision – approximately 275 homes. The feedback on the parade was very positive and the candy donations were overwhelming.
“I stopped counting at about 16,000 pieces of candy,” said Pieter. Just over 100 generous loot bags of candy were delivered to the homes of trick or treaters on the day of the parade. The excess candy was donated to our local food bank. Halloween 2020 happened after all!
That parade was such a success that Pieter stepped up and organized a parade again for this year. “Last year we had Spiderman as our grand marshal and this year we had bacon and eggs, ” Pieter said.
Key volunteers who helped Pieter over both years were: Anne, Paul, Clark, Marion, Mike, Diedre, Al and Lucie. Plans are already being discussed for next year’s parade, and with the help of neighbours, Pieter will see it through.