Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 20/98) - Santa's coming to town Saturday and he won't be alone.

The annual Santa Claus Parade is set to begin at 11 a.m., departing Gerry Murphy Arena and running down Franklin Avenue before turning the corner at 49th Street.

"It's going excellently, so far," said Martin Gaudet, special events co-ordinator for the city.

"Right now, there are 39 entries for Saturday's parade, up from 33 last year.

"We've had a whole lot of support, all kinds of businesses and non-profit organizations have been helping out," said Gaudet.

Among the businesses chipping in to make this year's parade happen are Hovat Construction, which offered to complete a major renovation on the most important vehicle in the parade -- Santa's sleigh.

Donated by Johnnie Rocher, the sleigh has been in more than 10 Christmas parades.

On their own time, Hovat's Rene Baumgartner and Marcel Self did carpenter repairs to the sleigh, then turned it over to Mary-Lynn and Eric Sputek and their two children, Quinton and Victoria, for a fresh coat of paint.

Gaudet said, from what he's heard, Yellowknife measures up well against that place in Southern Canada known to those who live there as the "centre of the universe." "I didn't see it, but I heard Toronto had its Christmas parade last week and only had 20 floats and we've got more than that," said Gaudet proudly. "I got a good laugh out of that."

Each float organizer in the parade has been asked to incorporate some aspect of the theme of this year's parade "Christmas Magic."

That will be easier for some than others. Students Against Drunk Driving, for example, were planning to have a float showing a car crashing through ice.

Schools will be front and centre during the parade. Yellowknife Education District No. 1 is reportedly preparing the biggest float of the parade. The Ndilo school bus will also be dressed up for the occasion.

About 25 characters, including the Hamburgler and the A&W root bear, will also be on hand dishing out candy during the parade.