If you were driving near Whitecourt midday Saturday, you might have seen some very lucky children in a horse-drawn buggy, driven by the big man in red — Santa.
For the last four years, the Myers family has been offering free sleigh or buggy rides to children on the side of Highway 43.
“We do it just because we love Christmas,” said head elf Reena Myers. “Christmas is a great time of year and we just want to bring the spirit out in everybody.”
Last year, Santa, Mrs. Claus and their favourite horse pulled about 50 children through the snow.
“They just light up and they enjoy it,” Myers said.
“We just started it as a fun thing,” Santa explained. “Then people started to ask if they could have a ride. We said ‘certainly.’ Then they wanted to pay me, but we don’t take payments so we started taking donations to the local Christmas hamper.”
In 2016, the Myers family collected $400 and a few big bins of food for Whitecourt families struggling to make ends meet.
“There’s lots of needy families out there. This time of year is a tough time,” said father Allan Hamelin. “You don’t have a lot of money for food and if you’re trying to buy presents it’s not easy.”
He brought his daughters and his nieces out for a ride with Santa Saturday.
“It’s a tremendous service. It’s very nice for these people to volunteer their time and their horses and everything and not ask for a lot in return. That’s really good.”
Passersby honked and waved at the unusual sight.
Santa normally rides in his sleigh, but the warm weather meant he had to move to plan B.
“That’s my big problem. That’s why I had to bring the buggy and the horse this year. No snow!”
For anyone wondering why the horses were hard at work instead of the reindeer, Santa said they’re just getting some rest before the big night.
“I’m feeding them lots of oats and lots of hay so they’re ready to go on Christmas eve.”