The final line of the Jaycee’s Creed, “and that service to humanity is the best work of life,” aptly describes the lives of Maggie Durocher (Volunteer) and David Grimaldi (Director of Business Development) of the Windsor Parade Corporation.
With their Board of Directors and legion of faithful volunteers, the Windsor Parade Corporation, a not-for-profit organization, brings countless thrills and excitement to both young and old each year in the Windsor Essex region.
The “Windsor Santa Claus Parade” has been an annual staple for more than 50 years. Since being granted their membership charter in 1967, it was the most important community event staged each year by the Windsor Jaycees.
In 1999, five previous Santa Claus Parade chairpersons (including Durocher) from the Jaycees, incorporated a separate not-for-profit entity known as the Windsor Jaycees Santa Claus Parade Corporation.
This was done to ensure the ongoing viability of the Santa Claus Parade in the event that dwindling membership numbers of the local Jaycees might cause them to fold. If the chapter folded, the Santa Claus Parade would continue.
In 2005 the letters patent was amended to change the organization’s name to the Windsor Parade Corporation. This change was necessary because the organization was now looking at staging parades not just in Windsor, but throughout the county — and not just at Christmas time. With the demise of the “International Freedom Festival ”in 2004, the organization was asked by then Mayor Eddie Francis to produce “Summerfest,” along with the “Canada Day Parade.” According to Durocher, Mayor Francis contacted her and said, “the parade cannot fold; you are the only parade producers in town; here’s some money, now get ‘er done.”
Over the past decade the Windsor Parade Corporation has been staging annual Santa Claus parades in Windsor (Sandwich), Amherstburg, Kingsville and Essex.
FEATURE PHOTO: Surrounded by floats, Maggie Durocher and David Grimaldi stand in the Windsor Parade Corporation warehouse.
