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SANTA Claus has made a list, and he'll be checking it twice -- to see if you'll help him get a new sleigh for the annual Santa Claus Parade.
And you better not pout: He actually needs a whole new float or at least a renovated one.
It's easy to get on Santa's good list by signing up for the annual Aviva community fund competition and voting online at http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf17509.
JCI Winnipeg vice-president (fellowship) Danelle Hueging said Wednesday she is hoping thousands of Winnipeggers sign up.
"We have, what, almost 700,000 possible voters?" Hueging said chuckling.
'It's on its last legs. That's why we're asking for help...' -- JCI Winnipeg vice-president (fellowship) Danelle Hueging
"We'd be laughing."
Hueging said the historic float, one of the oldest in Canada, needs repairs from the trailer bed right up to where Santa sits and waves at throngs of children lining Portage Avenue as the parade concludes.
"The float now has some major structural issues," she said. "We need to replace the reindeer. They have mould on them and their broken legs are being held together by rods. And when Santa climbs up to the top of the hill, it wobbles.
"It's on its last legs. That's why we're asking for help from the community and Aviva."
Hueging said they don't know how old the float is for sure, but on the underside of the hills you can see they are constructed with decades-old Eaton's signs. Eaton's began the annual parade in 1909 and continued it until 1965 when it turned it over to the Winnipeg Firefighters Club for $1.50. JCI Winnipeg took it over in 1975, and since 2006 it has worked with the city and Manitoba Hydro.
JCI Winnipeg, formerly the Winnipeg Jaycees, has joined the fifth annual Aviva competition under the name Save Our Santa Float. On Wednesday, the third day of the first of three 15 -day voting periods, saw the campaign crack the 100 vote mark by early afternoon.
The top votes so far in the competition -- which can see large projects such as the parade proposal garner up to $150,000 in funding out of a $1-million pot -- are more than 2,000 for a school play structure that can accommodate children with special needs and a school playground project.
But Aviva spokesman Glenn Cooper said our local idea has a secret weapon -- and it's not the big bearded guy dressed in red, but rather the size of our city.
"Last year, the winner in the large category got north of 10,000 votes," Cooper said.
"There are many great ideas, but the ones which get the most votes have a large impact on the community and a large audience. And it's when you have entire communities getting behind ideas you get lots of votes."
Cooper said everyone who registers to vote on the Aviva Community Fund site gets 15 votes per round and no one from the Aviva Canada insurance provider will call them.
"They're not going to get bombarded for insurance," he said.
The first round of voting in the competition began Sept. 30 and ends Oct. 14. If you are in the top 10 of the large, medium or small categories you automatically go on to the semifinal round beginning Dec. 2.
But if the Santa parade float proposal doesn't win in the first round, there are two more qualifying rounds of voting that end on Nov. 25.
From Dec. 2 to 11, people can vote on the top 30 ideas from each funding category before the top 10 projects in each are sent behind closed doors to be judged by judges. The final winners will be announced on Jan. 28.
Hueging said even if they win funding, it won't be in time for this year's parade, being held Nov. 16 at 5 p.m. on Portage Avenue.
But she said don't be worried: They'll make sure the current float makes do for at least one more year with Santa on it.
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