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‘ .. ‘ WATERWCHIONluE-Wednesdly, December 4.2013'! Meet Father Christmas Wonders of Winter celebrates 20 years of lighting up Waterloo Park Brno-W homagestopopuhrwltumdiamofhen "‘ '. l. :1 3' fi‘? l" V' _ ChmnldeSmfl’ inspiredbyriiegnnddiiiarerronhevoiun- ." ; t‘lfil/" ».\ ‘ teen who buildthedlsphys. lndudlngfiorâ€" f“ > y r . t, . . . fyou want to see what Santa and his mer Waterloo North Hydro workers and "‘5; 3'. . ‘ f' “ - «“i h A Ihelpers look like in their street clothes. other wmmunity-mlndeduouls. ' 1 3h ‘/ ' "“ ‘. . " .' i. -\‘v' "1% youmightwanttocheckoutthevolun- “mebestswhentiieguyshrmghniieir s .4 a if} ’9 :7 Q “‘5 ‘ \i teers With Wonders of Winter as they ready grandchildren and they could say ‘0 them , 1" ._ V‘ 3‘ g. “fir ‘ g '1. ‘ Waterloo Park for the annual festival of that grandpa made that or papa did that." ‘ ‘ . Q* ~ "l; I g ’ (A lights. said Weiler. ”They're proud todothaL' ‘ .1":- t . , _- it t' 5‘ d y Chief among them is Waterloo's own The volunteers are getting older admitted l; - - *- ,- 2" , _ 3% '9, 4‘ '1; ' Father Christmas. Bill Weller, who Weiler. and they‘ve lost some over the years V . {3 :0”, ‘3“. 3‘ . ‘h’ ‘ approached the City ofWaterloo 20 years ago But there is still a strong core at the centre . A . ,i A " . .“' E, ' f. “ and pitched the idea ofa festive light show in including helpers like Dave Hollinger. Gary .‘ i, x; \l ‘ “ " If; i ‘ ” /’ the park ala similar displays he saw in Niaga- Knorr and Ross Head. If there is ever any 3 i . ~)“ " . \ x '3‘, 's / ‘1 :2 Falls. problems. Weiler said he puts the ml] out and Q I . " - ' fl ‘ w t " “It’s 20 years. can you imagine." said Well he‘s always impressed by the response. e fl \ ‘ ’ ' er, who was still tweaking some of the dl$~ “If l ask if somebody's got some time to t ' 5,. . .‘x‘ 5 .' ‘ . 1‘ plays last Thursday in preparation for Saturr help. you should see the guys that come out i )1: (it , f . day's big kickoff event. “Originally I thought to help no matter the weather," said Weller, I ”I , 2 ,r r y we would have ll) years of it max where the The fireworks at Saturday's kick off was i w‘ i i ';1 _ : N community really liked it .. - i meant asa ial thank u ' I . l before they eventually gel T0 me [Isa happy to a lot of 3:52., and biz: ‘ gi , t ‘ f “ ' ' -' ‘. tired ofit. event. Everybody dreds or people were dauled .1.- a ‘ ‘ y it “Here I am til, and this . - - h a display that some said _ i ' 'y thing is still going on stmng.” lilUOll‘e‘d lSleS‘I SO riin/alled the one on Canada { i 4/ ' , .RIS “‘5 W ’ It started out as simply happy to d011, and l)ayat(lolumbialake. o "fiig‘ _ ' . ~ stringi li is along the trail “In m mind this m a lit- . . throug’lligthghpar‘k across from 50 happy [0 $89 the tle bit ofya way to say thank ‘ . . I ~ ». ‘ the train tracks and has since results_” you to those guys who have ’ grown to more than 100 anl' helped over theyears because I matron": displays ~ all built ’ Bill “I" without them we couldn't . I by volunteers. “”"W'WWOW’? ”In/”m” have kept it going." Weller ' I“ Weiler got a STSAXX) loan from the City to said. “And the only thing we do to repay them ' launch lhe "'10"!thng event, Whl(‘h has for their time is lotakethem out to dinner.‘ ‘ long been repaid, and it has since depended So how long can it go. and how long will it My mu; on local business and corporate support to go on with Weiler at it's centre? He said the grow the festival That support has been so spirit shared by the volunteers still keeps him . . strong that them an- already bliSlnexses lined going “It's a great camaraderie shared by the up to partit’ipato lil next year's Wonders oi guys who (time here." he said. . Miner They all still get exeited by the rt‘at’tltills of ' l'ht't IIV of Watt-rilw is also .1 strong part the families and children who Come to the \ not in lht' liftilt‘t‘l and l'lillilnllt‘S to maki- sliri- event and make it part of their yearly holiday the the lt~sti\‘.ll goes as silloolhly as possible t t-lvhrations l'hal includes Mayor Brenda 3i" WEiiH. bum (”the MU 0' MM" W“. MS ”‘0 an“ 0305 display I” am“ "We \l‘ done u lot lil work ill [hr park in lldllnmn lpation of opening night of"! festival of lights last week. Hundreds of people kicked off the lilt't‘i the t'it‘l tilt ill slundards " said Weller “I remember bringing my own young 20"" ”35°" WW" 3 (Wk'i'gm ceremony on 5am”: followed by ”My“ M MW“ With help from lh('( ll\ ‘Wt'rt' solid fili.llil i.ll {ninth to the annual Wonders of Winter In ls. .llid Ulllllllllt' to add more displays and Waterloo Park.~ she said "lor me, this is a and sponsors who spend their time and “To me it's a happy l'\t‘llI Milli \‘il‘lil'l tollntlng lilt‘ displays I think we hau- .ln hallmark event signalling that ( hrlstmas is resources building these spectacular dis- "Everybody involved vy'llii ll is “Ml so lupin lll\(‘\llYlt'lll ofaholit $180.00“ " just around [ht't ornvr plays. to do it. and so happy to \I‘t‘ the “Mills lhrrt' .m- rhr- ll‘sllili siispt-t is on til\[)iii\ “ lhls years opening night il-snntlt-s mark “Christmas in our park wouldn‘t be the lhe festival runs illilli Elm ll and :ilt'lt‘ llkl- Murat Luis .ilill lust hrlstnms i il\iit‘ ,ill Hit wonderful wars I think H s important to same Without their dedication. creativity and will be a number of slit . MI "Wills it” .i “I” llt lip tor lilt‘ unison hill iilt‘ll’ .m- -|i\it rm ”gill/P and honour thi- many volunteers iX'ilt‘fln the magit'ofthe holiday season ” listing nsit wwwwol li‘ .. will W" l .i . N i ‘*‘r V e, .‘ . “a ““'= Z. M . i .‘w‘x V ‘ ['"V'J'k' f“ ’\.'_- - ' ' iii-Q51; “‘13.". .:..?‘,‘I‘r~?r‘-‘i.â€""."5:~ “if“, s . . ed - â€" ‘- «Jermaine Le . '1‘” , .‘ - ‘ ‘t. g , .. m .‘ " .,.. 5- ' 4? aa- [mated 'i '~ ' ‘ ‘. ‘ ‘ ‘ - f " a 888 “0020.181. 1020 Ottawa St. I. 0 Eye Glasses - Sunglasses . . ..-;..~.,.-., - if . .. . £13.?!“qu 35,3934, Efflm 0 Soft Contact Lenses '” ,.. * .. 3 , , . :., . 'Mol‘s’tgm?“ “‘ ' "3"???“ ‘0'“ . d . , - . n . . r - it SATURDAY m was IVAN-AIL. 519-741-1233 519-954-2020