The manager of Camp Gencheff can barely contain her excitement at the thought of participating in the Charlottetown Christmas Parade for the first time.
Nicole Ward said Thursday staff and volunteers have been working countless hours over the past two weeks to get their 30-foot float ready for Saturday.
“I am very, very excited. We are really looking forward to this because we just love Christmas, we just love this time of year,’’ Ward said.
“We’re just surprised we haven’t done this sooner. We have a lot of passionate people on board like Ian Hunter who has a lot of experience doing this sort of thing.’’
Hunter is a board member with Camp Gencheff who just happens to have about 25 years building floats for the Gold Cup Parade and Charlottetown Christmas Parade.
Elwood Lawton, father of Camp Gencheff chairwoman Jennifer Lawton, donated his 30-foot-long, fifth wheel trailer and truck to the camp. He also donated the use of one of his large barns so the float could be done indoors.
Then, Hunter went to work.
“He got right in there and built the frame from scratch and used all his own inflatables and things he has collected over the years,’’ said Ward.
Hundreds of Christmas lights will cover the entire float.
“When I saw the 30-foot long trailer my mind started racing ‘What can I do here?’ The first thing was to put up a wooden frame and make it safer for people to be on and go from there. I had the Christmas lights and inflatables at home, and I started from there,” he said, adding the inflatables are all snowmen and animals.
Hunter said it doesn’t take much to convince him to build a parade float.
“It feels good to do this because Christmas is for kids, and when they see you coming down the street with (Christmas) music blasting, they get very, very excited.
Jennifer Lawton said getting involved in the parade for the first time was a chance to do something new and exciting.
“Our staff was a big part of making this happen,’’ Lawton said. “It’s all about raising awareness (about Camp Gencheff) and having a little bit of fun while we’re at it.’’
Ward said there won't be any room for staff on the float due to all the inflatables, but they will be walking alongside.
“It shows out spirit and it shows what something like this means to us. We have off-season weekend camps and we like to make it an experience. Maybe people who have never experienced Camp Gencheff can look at the float and wonder, ‘Wow, I wonder what they do at their camps’, so for us to give a taste of Christmas and to be a part of the community . . . it means everything to us.
“We believe in supporting local, we believe in things that can bring the community together and enjoy the simple things.’’
