Popular tractor procession returns this year

Following the wildly popular and quickly organized tractor parade put together by Dorothy Soo Wiens and
Erwin Wiens, last year, the farming couple said they would do it again and it would be bigger and better.
That’s a promise they are keeping. Based on the success of last year’s Christmas Tractor Processional,
they are organizing the second annual event, to be held Thursday, Dec. 15, beginning at 6 p.m. 
“At this point we have about 30 tractors entered into the parade,” says Dorothy. “Our agricultural farmers
who have committed to the parade are excited and already planning  on h,ow to decorate their tractors.”
If there is anyone in the community who has a tractor and wants to participate. Dorothy asks that they
email [email protected] to let them know.
The Niagara Lions have again stepped up to sponsor the event, she says.

“Erwin and I are so excited to plan this again.”
They were thrilled to receive such positive feedback from people last year, especially those who watched it
from Pleasant Manor.
“We know many people who live at Pleasant Manor and it really brought them joy to be able to watch the
processional from their balconies. It was nice for them to be able to just step out from where they live to
enjoy this.  We also heard from many friends whose parents live at Pleasant Manor how much they loved the
processional.”
After it was underway, Dorothy says she and Erwin watch the tractors as they came back into the arena
parking lot, where it had started, “and we loved hearing the squeals of delight from the children of families
lining the streets.  Well, I should say the adults were really enjoying the tractors as well.”
There was so much joy and happiness that evening, she says, “it really made our hearts so full,”

Last year’s tractor procession, was organized in a matter of two weeks, and might just have been the hit of
the Christmas season.
Once the couple decided what they were going do, they reached out to their farming friends and received
immediate support.
However, they were amazed at the vehicles that pulled into the Virgil arena parking lot, all decked out in
their Christmas glitz.
There were 19 tractors of various shapes and sizes, says Dorothy, and one of the farmers in the parade
said he felt there had to be more than 1,000 people lining both sides of the streets of the route through Virgil to
watch.
Balconies at Pleasant Manor were full of people, residents and families, who had some of the best views of
the parade, which will follow the same route this year.
Dorothy and Erwin stayed at the arena to marshal the vehicles, and were receiving calls all evening
congratulating them on organizing such a successful event.
“We had so much fun that night,” Dorothy said last year.
“I had one person telling me he wants to buy a tractor so he can be in the parade next year,” she laughs,
“and a few people ask if they can come out in decorated riding lawn mowers.”
A Niagara Regional Police officer was on-hand to help, leading the way and stopping traffic at each street
as the tractors moved along the route.
A NOTL fire department ladder truck brought up the rear of the parade.
Virgil, she says, was the perfect place for a tractor parade. “It’s the heart of the farming community, the hub, where farmers come to buy all their supplies. It’s where farmers meet and shop. There couldn’t be a better place for it.”