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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, N ov em be r 26 ,2 02 0 | 16 WALK-IN & FAMILY CLINICW • Male & Female Physicians • Family andWalk-in • Women's Health & Pregnancy Care • Sports Medicine • Extended Hours • Senior's Health • Lab On-Site • Pharmacy On-Site Miller Dr. M ou nt ai nv ie w Rd .S 8t h Li ne M ai n St 15 Sd. Rd. Eaton St. 10 Side Rd Opposite to Allison's Farm Market 221 Miller Dr., Georgetown 905-873-6776 GenesisHealthTeam.com FULL SERVICE MEDICAL CLINIC FLU VACCINE NOW AVAILABLE! Walk-ins welcome ~ Open 7 days a week Walk In Clinic Where good health begins FLU VACCINE AVAILABLE! Medical Clinic Pharmacist - Sam Georgetown's trusted choice for hearing care 360 Guelph St., Unit 44 Georgetown (In the Knolcrest Centre) 905.877.8828 Armstrong Ave Delrex Blvd Finally, test drive hearing aids that let you decide at your own speed. At Halton Audiometric Centre, we believe the only way to know which hearing aid is right for you is to experience the benefits in your day-to-day life. Take home and test drive state of the art hearing aids today with NO COMMITMENT OR DEPOSIT REQUIRED. Call us today for your free consultation The lines of cars stretched as long as two ki- lometres in several direc- tions Saturday night, some people waiting for as long as three hours, all to see the man in a red suit. The world has changed a lot in the past year, but one thing that hasn't is the desire to see Santa before he makes his Christmas rounds. While most com- munities were forced to cancel their parades due to COVID-19, Georgetown and Acton came up with a unique solution. Instead of bringing the parade to the people, they brought peo- ple to the parade. "It was way beyond our expectations," said George- town Lions Club president Art Hayes. Hayes estimates that more than 1,000 cars snaked their way through Trafalgar Sports Park to view the floats and get a glimpse of Santa as he pre- pares for his big night next month. Earlier in the day, the Acton Fire Fighters Asso- ciation (AFFA) staged a similar 'reverse' parade with 276 cars making their way through the Acton High School parking lot for a physically-distant visit with Santa. While there were no floats at the Acton event, many of the visitors got in- to the spirit. "Many vehicles and pas- sengers were decorated and dressed up and im- pressed Santa with their amazing holiday spirt," said Nick Carroll of the AF- FA. The firefighters dangled a bucket from a pry bar to collect letters to Santa from the passing cars. Both parades used the event to collect for the local banks. Carroll said they filled a trailer with food and toy donations for Ac- ton Foodshare; in George- town, the Lions Club col- lected more than 2,100 pounds of food for the Georgetown Bread Basket. In Georgetown, cars started lining up 40 min- utes before the park opened and the cars just kept coming. Eventually, realizing they would not be able to accommodate all the cars, Halton police be- gan blocking off roads lead- ing to the park. Even ex- tending the time beyond the scheduled close, they weren't able to get every- one through the park. "We were somewhat overwhelmed with the community support and even though we tried to cover every contingency, the number of cars created long waits and some disap- pointments," said parade chair Louie Violo. Hayes said the recent changes to COVID-19 proto- cols in Halton Region al- most forced them to cancel. The stricter guidelines meant they could only have 25 people in the park. Even Santa got no special privi- leges, taking up one of those spots. That meant no people on most floats and fewer volunteers to co-or- dinate the flow of cars. "We have been in the car coming up on three hours moving not very quickly on Maple (Avenue)," tweeted Karen Gasbarino. "But we are singing Christmas songs, playing games, and laughing. This is how memories are made. Thank you." Hayes said he appreciat- ed people's patience. "The response was phe- nomenal," he said. "We didn't want to turn anyone away, but some things were out of our hands." NEWS SANTA STILL A BIG HIT, EVEN FROM A DISTANCE HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com The Georgetown Lions Club's unique spin on the Santa Claus drew a tremendous response with more than 1,000 cars lining up outside Trafalgar Sports Park, some waiting for as long as three hours to get an opportunity to see Santa. Left: Instead of its traditional parade, the Acton Fire Fighters invited the public to visit Santa in the Acton High School Parking lot. The firefighters collected donations for the food bank and give kids a chance to drop off their letters to Santa. Chris McAloney photo Acton Fire Fighters Association photo