Christine Whelan FEO, December 7, 2023, VOL. 5 ISSUE 7

When Darren Peters of Peters Construction Group was contacted and asked to build a float for this year’s Santa Claus Parade, they decided, as a team, to take on the task.

“We’ve always donated vehicles for other organizations to pull their floats but we’ve never put one in ourselves.”

They started asking around for any extraordinary ideas for a float. And then, “This clip came up on Instagram from somewhere over in Europe.”

It gave them the idea, but they made it better. “We made it safer and we wanted it to stand out.”

So, as Darren told it, they went to the drawing board. “A bunch of us came up with some really good ideas. Justin Laroche, our fabricator for the company, built the steel structure for the float. Then our carpenter built the wooden sleigh.”

In the Making

“It was exciting to build and watch it come together because we knew it was going to be really cool, like something that had never been done before. We’re so excited that it was such a hit.”

The making of the float brought in neighbouring spectators. “As we were doing this, we could hear the kids, parents, and grandparents, all standing on the sidelines just in awe and cheering. That made it all worth it — to see the expressions and reactions of people.”

They weren’t thinking they were building Santa’s float. “We were going to put the Grinch on our sleigh.”

Peters took pictures of the completed float and sent them to the parade’s organizers, noting that they’d be putting the Grinch in the sleigh. It didn’t take long for the decision to be made, after seeing the pictures, that the Peters Construction Group float was more than deserving of Santa himself.

Bringing the Float Alive

“It was a team effort. A bunch of the employees helped decorate the float. We spent a few nights decorating.”

They took to Amazon, looking for reindeer suits. “We found nine of them. ‘Customized the one with a red nose.”

The floats’ participants were employees who volunteered their time. “Myself and my son included. We were both reindeer.”

Darren described the setup for the reindeer. “Each of us had our own seat, like a tractor seat, and a seatbelt. There’s a bar in front so each of us laid on a bar like a brace when we leaned forward and paddled in the air to make it look like we were flying.

“We’d get tired so we’d take a break. And we’d sit straight up in the seats.” There were bars down below for their feet to rest on when they weren’t doing the paddling.

When asked if they had expected the float to get this much reaction and attention on social media, Darren said they were all shocked. “We didn’t expect it. Between some of the different sites that have shared the videos, it’s up over forty million views. It’s crazy,” he laughed.

Out of all the attention the float received all over social media, Peters Construction hadn’t been one of the contributors. “Social media isn’t our expertise.”

He says, that while the float has gotten a lot of attention, the fact that it was a Peters Construction Group float wasn’t as well-known. “But it is getting out there.”

The Santa float was meant to be an opportunity for a group of people to have fun and provide a larger group with festive entertainment.

“We didn’t do it for the views. We did it for the Fort Erie Santa Claus Parade and social media just blew it out of the water.”

Just another one of life’s ironies.

Future Plans

Darren said that people have been asking, what are you going to do next year? How are you going to top it?

To inquiries of future float endeavors, Darren updated, “We’ve shrink-wrapped the float and put it away. We know there are a few things different we’re going to do next year and yes, we’ll be bringing it back out.”

With a laugh, Darren said the reindeer are going to have to go into training in August for next year. “It was quite a workout.”

So, watch for the Peters Construction Group Santa Claus float with the living, flying reindeer next year. With more time to plan and prepare, with the opportunity to make needed changes only known after that first run, Fort Erie may be in for an impressive surprise.

To view the photos and videos of the float that earned millions of views, you can find them on the Facebook Group, Fort Erie – “Our Town” and search “Santa”.

Photos provided by Darren Peters