Santa's getting a new ride for his upcoming stop in Kitchener-Waterloo

Santa's brand new ride for KW parade The final touches are going on Santa Claus' new parade float. Krista Sharpe gets a preview from his local helpers.

Santa’s helpers are making a list and measuring twice.

The team, made up of staff and students from Conestoga College’s School of Trades and Apprenticeship in Waterloo, have volunteered their time to build and design a brand new sleigh for Old Saint Nick, which will debut at the KW Santa Claus Parade on Saturday, Nov. 16.

Up until this year, Santa had been riding on the same float since 1979.

Mary D’Alton, the chief fundraising officer for the KW Lions Club, said they felt it was time for the old float to retire.

“Poor Santa, came to us last year, said: ‘I don’t think I can make this float one more time.’”

So the Lions Club reached out to the college, who agreed to help build a new one.

“We were a little out of our comfort zone,” said Jeff Willsie, one of the chairs of trades and apprenticeship. “Float building is not something that's necessarily in our wheelhouse but we've been learning as we go.”

Chris Sine, a shop technologist at Conestoga College, oversaw the project and its design.

“I came up with the idea of the reindeer flying over top of houses, something that's normal on Christmas. And then I just was like: ‘I can build five houses.’”

The Kitchener Lions Club, which puts on the parade every year, said the Bank of Montreal paid for all the construction materials and each individual reindeer was sponsored by different local businesses.

“As you know, reindeer don’t necessarily exist here in Waterloo Region,” D’Alton said. “They've been coming in from all over, from Greenland to the North Pole, some from northern Canada. They all just had to be the right reindeer for Santa. We don't choose them. He chooses them. We arrange the sponsorship.”

Santa’s sleigh is now the only original element on the float. Everything else, from the fresh snow to the reindeer, are all brand new.

There’s only one missing piece – Rudolph – whose bright red nose will lead Santa to Waterloo Region for the parade.

The Kitchener Lions Club Santa Claus Parade will make its way down the streets of Kitchener and Waterloo on Nov. 16, starting at 10 am.