Santa Claus is paying Cochranites a special visit this year with an initiative that will donate 50 Christmas trees to residents this holiday season on Dec. 9.
The event will take place at The Station at noon, and will feature a variety of goodies and guests for all families in attendance. The trees will be donated by Paul Clark, and will provide families in the community with a spruce or pine tree that vary in size.
Organizer of the event, Dan Kroffat, outlines the event couldn’t have happened without Clark’s generous donation and added that a few of Santa’s friends from the Rotary Club of Cochrane will help with this initiative.
“They are working on logistics with Santa this year,” Kroffat said. “They are going to help [deliver] the trees, and they’re actually going out to Mr. Clark’s property, because Santa only has so much room on his sleigh, so he asked if the Rotary group could help out transporting trees.”
Kroffat said the initiative aims to combat inflation as many families face rising costs this holiday season. Selection for trees will be done through a nomination process where Cochranites can call Cochrane Toyota via 403 932-9900 to nominate a family.
“We ask citizens of Cochrane to please submit names of nominated families,” Kroffat said. “One thing that’s critical, the nominated family must agree they will come down and pick up the tree.
“It may be an awkward situation for some families, we understand that, so when a family is nominated, please have them indicate that they will come down to pick up their tree and be a part of the festivities.”
As there are a limited number of trees, nominations end when all trees are selected.
Families will be treated muffins and beverages courtesy of McDonald’s as they come pick up their trees, and MacKay’s Ice Cream will donate coupons to families at the event. Members of the Cochrane Public Library will also be in attendance to work with both parents and children at the event.
“And this year, we are excited because, Mayor Jeff ‘the elf’ Genung will be part of the event, [and] he will be helping Santa,” Kroffat said.
Banff-Airdrie MP Blake Richards is also expected to make an appearance at the event. Kroffat added that Santa expresses his gratitude for having such a wonderful team that will take part in this event.
With the event coinciding with Stuff-a-Bus, Kroffat said Chris Kringle is happy to see these initiatives bring joy to the community, ahead of the holiday season.
“Santa said that’s a wonderful initiative,” he said. “He will provide trees, so together there will be families that receive food, as well as a tree this year, so in some ways this is a collaborative event, and we look forward to having this happen.”
