Toronto welcomes first winter flurries with annual Santa Claus Parade

As he has every year since 1905, Santa Claus descended on Toronto streets yesterday, bringing an army of clowns and familiar characters along with him.

Before the parade began, hawkers could be heard over the distant sound of marching bands readying their drums for the trek from Bloor and Christie to Front and Church Sts.

Though the children cheered wildly for characters including Ronald McDonald, Mr. Peanut, the Kool-Aid man, Little Red Riding Hood, Mother Goose and Winnie the Pooh, the heartiest screams were reserved for Santa, who arrived shortly after a mid-afternoon snow flurry blanketed eyelashes and frosted lips.

He was greeted with cheers and screams from children, parents and grandparents alike, many of whom gathered hours before he touched down in town.

But for all the excitement along the parade route, those most touched by the scene seemed the ones gathered outside Sick Kids Hospital, where children, many of them attached to intravenous machines, sat on the side of University Ave., smiling and cheering on those in the parade.

Founded by the Eaton's department store 104 years ago as a marketing ploy to get children and parents into the Christmas shopping spirit, the parade has, for many, grown into a family tradition.

Along the parade route, children and adults alike could be spotted wearing red Rudolph noses, the proceeds of which were going directly to the patients at Sick Kids.