Ho-Ho-Ho changed to Oh-No-No-No when the horse-drawn carriage that was to carry Santa in Cody's Light Parade arrived too late to catch the parade.
The glitch occurred because the Shire horse carriage was parked a block away from where the parade was organized and parade organizers and the carriage handler failed to communicate about departure time. The carriage operator waited until the last moment to hitch the horses because once hitched, they want to pull. But the carriage was out of sight from the parade organizers who wondered where it was. The carriage operator was expecting a later start but by the time he drove Santa and the horses to Sheridan Avenue, the last float had passed several minutes earlier so police had opened the barricades to vehicle traffic. Even though Santa's float was planned to be the last float, it was determined that it would be unsafe to stop traffic and let Santa's carriage catch up to the end of the parade.
So Santa then went up to his new house on Stampede Avenue and visited with more than 75 children who patiently stood in line to share their Christmas lists and get their photo taken with Ole Saint Nick. Santa's schedule for the rest of the season is posted on the front page of this website.
Despite the glitch, parade organizers said it was the largest lighted parade in Cody's history. An estimated crowd of 2,000+ people enjoyed the creative floats. First place float winner was the 4-H Rabbit Club, second place went to ABATE Motorcycle Group, and third place to "Families on the Front Line."