Lacombe is a community located in the heartland of Central Alberta and is arguably one of the nicest communities in the region because it retained its small-town vibe in the midst of a major population explosion over the past several years.
The downtown core of Lacombe is dominated by heritage buildings, along with a few newer structures that conform to the retro style of the area.
Jim Sutherland
Lacombe also retained most of its heritage homes in the inner sector and their current owners maintain their homes at a very high level.
We at MyStarCollectorCar are very familiar with Lacombe because we also live in Central Alberta and visited relatives who lived in the town when we were kids. One thing was left off our visits to Lacombe, namely their annual Christmas parade
This year we participated in their annual Christmas parade and used a reliable old 1963 Plymouth Belvedere for it. Alberta in late November is typically winter (including cold weather and snow), and this year was no exception, despite the best efforts of climate alarmists/grifters to ignore this grim meteorological fact.
The good news is everybody who has lived in Alberta for any length of time can cope with frigid weather, so an early Christmas parade held after dark is not a big reach for either participants or the thousands of people who lined the route.
The ’63 Plymouth was a reliable and warm mode of transportation for the parade, so we concentrated on lighting it up with an array of LED light strips because they required little juice to serve their purpose.
We used a gas-fired generator last year in another community’s Christmas parade because we used old school Christmas lights, and a portable power box could not handle the pace. The generator answered the bell, but we were not exactly in love with the arrangement of an internal combustion power source riding in the old Plymouth’s trunk and envisioned a headline that read: ‘Car guys killed in a fiery explosion (or asphyxiated) via a portable generator’.
Fortunately, that headline never materialized but this year’s arrangement with colored LED light strips was the perfect solution because they dialed down the electrical requirements in a big way.
The Lacombe Christmas parade is a coalition between the Lacombe Rotary club and the City of Lacombe. The team provided a seamless process for participants and should be commended for their efforts.
The spectators along the route included a large contingent of kids who were very excited about the parade on its own, given its Christmas vibe. Additionally, they were also very enthusiastic about the generous barrage of candy thrown by parade entrants, consequently many had large bags to hold the stuff. It was like Halloween without the onerous burden of a long hike to panhandle for candy at somebody’s door.
The Yuletide season is made even better when a community hosts a parade, and the annual Lacombe Christmas parade ignited our excitement about the holiday season.
The old Plymouth helped as well because our family had one like it when we were kids, so it was the perfect vehicle for a trip down Santa Claus Lane in Lacombe.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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