Tag: Kringlewood

Families on Inglewood Drive in Moore Park gathered Friday evening (December 19, 2014) to celebrate the season and admire their handiwork in the form of 45 giant Santa Claus statues towering above them on lawns down both sides of the street. The 12-foot fan-inflated electric polyethylene symbols of the season are marking their second year as Inglewood’s Parade of Santas. It began in 2013 when resident Amy Westin went looking for a Christmas statement for the front of the home she shares with her husband Tom and their three children, Violet, Sienna and Mattias. She struck on one of the enormous and (maybe in a nice way) “grotesque” Santa Claus statues at Canadian Tire. Up it went to much family excitement. Oh yeah, and a lot of work too. These things are ungainly as all get-out and easily blown over. They really need to be tethered on four sides and anchored as well. How did the idea of a whole street-full of Santas spread? It wasn’t a case of keeping up with the Westins, exactly, that caused the craze to capture people all along Inglewood Drive.  Neighbour Yousry Bissada asked Amy if she and Tom would mind if he got one too. He liked it, you see. Go for it, said the Westins. A neighborhood gathering much like last night’s offered an opportunity for residents to focus on the Santa mammoths as a group. By the end of the evening, several people were determined to have one of their own. Word spread and as the orders were registered at CTC, a funny thing happened. The company ran out of Santas. Head office got word and soon a large re-supply arrived. CTC recognized a good promotion and (as the video below recounts) arrived on the street with 23 more complimentary Santas. The South Bayview Bulldog covets Moore Park as its own turf and our story brought the Toronto Star and others to record the Santa parade. Oak-lined Inglewood Drive soon rivaled the north pole in the national media as a second home for St. Nick. In these fun photos by Bulldog co-publisher Sue Byford we see Friday night scenes from top to bottom: The Westin family l-r Violet, Sienna, Amy, Tom and Mattias, street scenes at the party looking east  

First there were five, then eleven and by last night, when Canadian Tire Corporation got finished donating a bunch, there were as many as 29 giant air-filled and electrically lighted Santa Claus figures on the lawns of Inglewood Drive in Moore Park. Best estimate of the number and location of the proliferating polyethylene symbols of the season comes from a walk along the ever-pleasant street from Hudson Drive on the east down to Mount Pleasant. Yep, it looks like 29. It started with a bit of yule-tide lightheartedness down at the west end of the street and somehow just took off from there. Here was see Twitter-sent pictures of the residents enjoying the treats like Beaver Tail sweets handed out by CTC as they installed the freebie Santas. The Santa parade got its first mention in the South Bayview Bulldog a week ago today. It was picked up soon after by CTV. Last night, many media recorded the scene. What a promotion.   Previous post 

Fun on Inglewood

Here it comes South Bayview. There will be snow and lots of it this weekend and these parading Santas on Inglewood Drive seem ready for it. At least five neighbors along the street decided to get the big blow-up St. Nicks from Canadian Tire. More fun than snow for sure. The Weather Channel says as much as 10 cm on Saturday, but others say maybe 15 cm. We have had wonderful weather so far this season, whatever you may think to the contrary. The normal daytime high for Toronto in December is 2 C. The normal low is -5 C. Temperatures across southern Ontario over the next few days will continue to be below average with highs near -6 C until Friday. And that’s when things start to get snowy. If you’re a skier or enjoy the snowy outdoors, however, you’ll enjoy what’s coming. North of the GTA, in cottage country, snow squalls have persisted since the weekend. Areas like Bracebridge could see more than 40 cm of accumulation by Thursday. Further south, in Toronto, the snow will start on Friday.