Thousands see Santa arrive

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34008, 24 November 1975, Page 16

Thousands see Santa arrive

Thousands of children and their parents poured into central Christchurch on Saturday morning, lining the streets five and six deep in places, to see Haywrights annual Christmas pageant wend its way through the city. Cars parked for miles along the way to the starting point of the procession showed that again it was going to be a great success, and enraptured expressions on the faces of children watching the parade go by were proof of its value. Some of the gaily-painted floats w'ere new, some were very familiar, but these had all ’been given a fresh coat of paint and were just as popular as the newcomers. One of the most impressive was a long, winding green serpent, which twisted i its way down the mile-longi route, bringing great delight! to many. The brass "-nd pipe bands,'

I the marching girls, the i clowns, the trick cyclists and the acrobats brought great ’ pleasure too, and the stamina r of many of them is to be j wondered at. ( But the climax of the whole procession was, as ' usual, the final float carrying ■ Santa Claus. This year, look--5 ing a little out of place behind the palm trees and guitar-playing natives of a ; “tropical island,” Santa was . brought in on a slightly smal- , ler version of the Oriana, us- . ing the occasion of his arrival to announce the opening of i a competition, , Everything seemed to go . very very well, despite the weather, and there appeared [ to be no trouble along the J route, except for the usual [lsmail hold-ups caused by • over-enthusiastic spectators • pushing forward on to the road. The only sad face visible , was a small lad, from the j procession, dressed in a Wee , Willie Winkie outfit, clutchII ing a policeman's hand, I searching for his mother when it was *ll over.