On 7 December 2024, residents and members of CFB Borden gathered outside their homes to witness the annual festive display of the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers’ (RCEME) Festival of Lights parade.
The highly anticipated parade convened near CFHA on Saturday evening, with the route spanning from Saskatchewan Blvd to Somme Blvd and ending at the CANEX. The event OPIs Master Corporal David Janssen and Master Corporal Mathieu Light attested to the night’s success, sharing how excited residents got for the parade.
“[The parade] has been such an ingrained tradition that it would have been harder to stop it than was to plan,” said MCpl Janssen.
The parade had holiday spirit at its core as the event was entirely volunteer-driven, with around 40 people from the RCEME school alone participating.
According to MCpl Janssen and MCpl Light, the event started in 2020 to bring joy and happiness to CFB Borden residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, it has grown into an annual tradition on the Base for residents and local community members to enjoy.
“How can you not love all of [the floats] and all the support from the people?” MCpl Light said.
To add some friendly competition into this year’s parade, MCpl Janssen created a voting system for the most popular float on Facebook.
The results were as follows:
1st place – Tech Services
2nd place – 3rd Canadian Ranger Patrol Group
3rd place – RCEME
RCEME and OPIs MCpl Janssen and MCpl Light want to thank all units who joined this year’s Festival of Lights in spreading joy and warmth to CFB Borden’s members, families and surrounding communities.
The event wouldn’t have been possible without the collaboration of the Military Police who performed road closures for the event. Thank you to the many volunteers and Base entities who shared their time and efforts in making the Festival of Lights another holiday celebration to remember.
