It was a winter wonderland with fresh snow and cool weather for the Light Up Okotoks event last Friday. We Albertans are a hardy bunch and downtown Okotoks was packed with people out enjoying the festivities. I think it was five years ago when I sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer at the Olde Towne Plaza stage during Light Up Okotoks for the first time. I was there with town council and we were waiting for Santa to arrive so that we could turn the Christmas lights on. Santa was late. There was a large crowd of several thousand waiting patiently and it was just dead air with us standing there on the stage praying that Santa would arrive. It was the ultimate awkward silence and without thinking I went to the mic and said something along the lines of “Let’s sing a Christmas carol to let Santa know we are here.” I started singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, unsure if I even knew all of the words. Thankfully the crowd joined in and carried it through. Almost like we had planned it, Santa arrived at the conclusion of the song and he officiated the lighting of the big community Christmas tree. Every year since then the Light Up Okotoks event organizers have included a Christmas carol or two led by Okotoks town council before the countdown to Light Up. If this is a tradition that sticks, town council might want to take the advice Santa gave us last Friday and get some singing lessons.
