The theme for 2019 featured a Nativity light show scene, along with a host of fun performances during the hour-long event.
“It’s just something for Christmas and something for families to enjoy,” explained event organizer Glenn Tomyn. “Many places have drive-throughs for Christmas, but the weather is so unpredictable that with that far wall back there, we thought ‘that’s the perfect place, let’s do it there’ and it worked out great. There’s a really big one in Edmonton where you actually walk through it and it’s huge. But this is small enough to make a nice show for everyone to enjoy and not take up a lot of time.”
The event began with a selection of carols from the Moose Jaw Community Choir before the Moose Jaw Dog Club ran through a series of agility trials and even staged a race between youngsters from the crowd and the pups themselves. The Moose Jaw Over the Top Vaulters showed off their artistic horse-riding skills and the Moose Jaw Pony Club – including provincial equestrian champion Mya Viczko and her horse Elliott – wowed the audience with a jumping demonstration.
The highlight of the day wrapped up the event as a Nativity light show played to musical accompaniment.
All in all, the two afternoon shows drew around 500 people total, offering a rewarding experience for the fans and workers who put plenty of time in to make things go off without a hitch.
“It took a couple of weeks with a bunch of people jumping in on it,” Tomyn said of building the show. “We buy the music and buy the program and put it all together, then there’s a lot of experimentation with extension cords. We have different music every year and it’s just an hour long, so it’s just the right amount of time for the kids sitting up in the bleachers.”
Including the performances outside of the light show itself is just a natural extension of regular exhibition company activities.
“The dogs are here all the time and the ponies are here regularly, so we thought we’d show them all off,” Tomyn said. “And they’re happy to do it and present what they do to the public, and everyone really enjoys watching them.”
