The Portage Rotary Club is reflecting on this year's Rotary Santa Parade of Lights that took place last week.

President of the club and chair of the parade Preston Meier says between the Jingle Bell Breakfast on Thursday morning and the parade which happened Friday, it's nice to see people get into the Christmas spirit.

"I think the best thing to say about it is that, even though there are some challenges in Portage, I think the community spirit is strong, alive and well," says Meier. "I think the proof are the people lined up on the streets and the cars and the excitement and the musics and the lights. It kind of puts it into perspective."

Meier wanted to see first-hand what the excitement was all about, so he rode with the Jolly One himself.

"I was able to ride with Santa for a little while, just to see the kids that are involved," says Meier. "It's not only the kids and their faces, and seeing Santa and the lights, and so on, but a lot of the parents were pretty excited about it. In fact, I think I saw more parents waving to Santa than I did kids, so, it just goes to show you the strength of the community and the spirit, and so on, that we have. It's something we look forward to every year."

Although the weather wasn't perfect, people still came out to see the parade. Meier says they are grateful for the volunteers who helped out, as well as their partners in the Portage and District Chamber of Commerce. He also gave a shout-out to the City of Portage, RCMP and the Portage Regional Recreation Authority.

"In some cases, there were three and four people deep right from 20th Street right down to where you get by the Douglas Campbell Lodge and the hospital," says Meier. "People wait to be able to see some of the floats and everything go by. I can't stress the amount of community spirit, where you've got businesses, non-profit organizations, schools, and Long Plain was there this year."

Meier notes it was great to see the community come together, and that's a reason why he loves the event.