Right down Santa Claus lane: Cole Harbour neighbourhood installs 130 inflatable Santas
COLE HARBOUR, N.S. —
It doesn’t take long to notice the theme in this neighbourhood: Santa. Santa. Santa. All the way along.
One hundred and thirty of them.
“I was shocked. I did not think I would be able to convince 130 people to buy a 12-foot Santa and put it in the front yard,” said Jaide Silver, who has lived in the Colby South neighbourhood in Cole Harbour for three years.
It snowballed quickly
It started as a toss-away Instagram comment about Cringlewood in Toronto where a bunch of neighbours installed around 50 giant, inflatable Santas on their front lawns.
It sparked a conversation with the neighbourhood moms which led to a post on the community’s Facebook page.
“I put it on there, saying ‘OK neighbours, who’s in?’ Kinda like half a joke but immediately everybody jumped on board,” she said.
They agreed on a certain Santa selling at Costco and that it would be a fundraiser for Feed Nova Scotia.
“All the ones that were in Costco, we bought them all, they were sold out that day. And then people starting ordering them online and they sold out that day online.”
Every day, neighbours were buying up any new stock available that was put on the website.
It took about two weeks for everyone to secure a Santa. The plan was to put them out on the lawn on Dec. 1 but some jumped the gun.
“Everyone got too excited and then people were like ‘I thought we were waiting?’”
When they first started buying them, the Santas were selling for $130 but then they went on sale for $100. When neighbours got the money from the price adjustment, Silver said they gave the difference to their fundraiser.
They’re calling it Colby North, Silver said, as it’s in the Colby South neighbourhood. The line of Santas start at the end of Astral Drive then continue onto Lakeridge Crescent, Rockhaven Court and Parkedge Crescent.
Mattatall Signs donated signs with a QR code leading people to their online donation page for Feed Nova Scotia. They’re also collecting cash donations.
The drive-by reaction
What they’re doing is working, as donations have reached more than $6,000 so far and there is bumper-to-bumper traffic happening regularly.
“I certainly was not expecting the amount of traffic we’re getting,” she said. “And people are out walking too.”
While the reaction they’re getting is surprising, it’s not surprising that this close-knit neighbourhood got together to do something good.
“We’re really close. We always have neighbourhood parties, we have block parties,” she said. “We always do big stuff together.”
The long line of Santas is also a big deal for the neighbourhood kids, silver said.
“They’re going to remember this forever. They love it — this is real Christmas magic that’s happening.”
