New Leaf Link at Sydenham Parade

Chris Boal | Dec 04, 2024

The signs were there: colder weather, a dusting of snow, and winter jackets coming out of hibernation. Saturday, November 30th, was the perfect day to kick off the holiday season with the Sydenham Santa Claus Parade, and New Leaf Link (NeLL), a non-profit organization located in Harrowsmith that provides educational day programming to adults living with developmental and physical disabilities, was there to help ring it in.

This year's float saw the NeLL participants, staff, and volunteers highlight the puppet mastery that instructor Annie Milne brings to her sessions with the group. Annie’s puppet class allows participants to explore different emotions, build hand-eye coordination, and improve spatial awareness in a creative and nurturing environment. Annie helps them design and build their own puppets that they can use to tell their own stories in a different medium.

In the lead-up to the parade, Annie had participants choose a puppet from her vast collection and help her make them festive. A wide variety was chosen, from cute girls to chickens and even holiday monsters. The NeLL participants utilized their puppetry skills at the parade to wish the crowd a Merry Christmas. Some staff and volunteers even donned wearable puppets in the form of a guitar-slinging rock and roller, a cowboy, and an R.C.M.P. officer, both on horseback! Special thanks to NeLL friends Patty Warner and her husband, Gord, for once again providing the truck and trailer and helping to decorate the float.

Be sure to visit New Leaf Link at the Harrowsmith Free Methodist Church gymnasium on Thursday, December 12th, at 1 p.m. for the Christmas Open House. It will be an opportunity for friends, old and new, to meet participants, staff, volunteers, and instructors, see what we have been up to this past year, and join NeLL members in celebrating the festive season with some caroling. You can learn more about the puppet program as well as the programming for drama, art, science, and so much more! Light refreshments and sweet treats will be offered. See you there!