A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
The Grinch and Cindy Lou started Saturday's holiday parade, and Santa and Mrs. Claus ended the parade. From left are Jody Acers and Mary Jane Lundberg from the Cloquet Education Foundation, Cindy Lou Who (Sara Ringat), the Grinch (Connor Hecht) and his dog, Max, along with CAFD's Sarah Buhs.
This year's Cloquet holiday parade had a larger than usual number of parade participants on foot, dressed in festive gear, some of them singing Christmas carols.
Fireworks punctuated a day of holiday cheer Saturday in Cloquet.
Viola Schlenvogt, 6, concentrates as she decorates a Christmas cookie at Wood City Motors Saturday.
Children tell a magician that he's not seeing them on TV during a magic show at Wood City Motors Saturday, where there were also reindeer as part of the Santa's Home for the Holidays festivities.
A gaggle of Cloquet gnomes sits quietly on a shelf at the Holiday Expo at Churchill Elementary School.
A giant snowman waves to the crowds during the Santa's Home for the Holidays parade in Cloquet Saturday night.
The Cloquet Area Fire District had firefighter-sanctioned fire pits at Station 1 for people to make s'mores and enjoy some hot chocolate in the hour leading up to the parade Saturday.
Santa and Mrs. Claus made their way back to Cloquet for the parade after the popular community event was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
The snow came a day late but holiday spirits were high during the annual Santa's Home for the Holidays events last weekend in Cloquet. Whether enjoying stories by Mrs. Claus, eating s'mores, singing or watching the parades, people were actually eager for fun.
They were shopping too. Allison Jerde, coordinator of the Holiday Expo at Churchill Elementary School, said they had a steady stream of people visiting the 126 vendor booths there. "I think it was successful for what's going on right now," she said of the fair.
After last year's event was canceled due to the pandemic, the event's success "spoke to the community's need to get back together, said Cloquet city councilor Chris Swanson. "It was wildly successful and really fun to see the fireworks. Bravo to the organizers."
This was the first year that the Carlton County United Way ran the event.
- Jana Peterson / Pine Knot News
