Santa dash a spectacle

A sleigh of about 30 Santas was a sight that shocked young onlookers and amused others as they took over Cooroy’s main street on Saturday for the Great Santa Race as part of the town’s Christmas spectacular.
Lane Hoffman and Alex Blake were the winners of the event that raised money for the Leukaemia Foundation.
Christmas in Cooroy kicked off on Friday, and despite the rain it was another huge success with thousands of people partaking in the cornucopia of Christmas activities.
Year 6 Cooroy State School student Anjali, who had a stroke earlier in the year, had set herself a goal to be able to walk to her official duty of turning on tree on Friday night and the crowd cheered her success. The QMP Shop Window Trail was also launched on Friday night also with local businesses throughout town decorating their window.
Spectators lined the street for the ever-popular Bendigo Bank street parade on Saturday afternoon and the floats were full of fun and colour.
Cooroy Chamber of Commerce president Danielle Taylor said more than 30 businesses and community groups participated and the “Stories, Books and Authors” theme was a big hit with young and old alike. Tadpoles Childcare Centre took out the Best Float award with their Peter Pan inspired float, but it was a close call with another year of tough competition according to judges Cr Frank Wilkie and Cr Ingrid Jackson.
The free activities kept people entertained all evening with free rides, a line-up of entertainers and a finale of fireworks.
“There is a long list of people to thank for this event including the sponsors, the volunteers, the Christmas in Cooroy committee, Rotary Club of Cooroy, Noosa SES, Cooroy Chamber of Commerce, Cooroy police and our MCs Sandy Bolton and Richard Hansen, who all gave up copious amounts of time,” Danielle said.
“It’s the fantastic community spirit that Cooroy has that makes this event so special.” See more photos inside or visit www.facebook.com/ChristmasInCooroy