There’s one particular decoration that helps Gail Kerr get into the spirit of the Christmas season.
“I love my nutcracker,” Kerr said. “I painted him from the one that graces my mantel every Christmas and I thought I’ll just paint him because I love him and he brings me joy.”
Now, Kerr’s nutcracker will now not only grace the mantle in her home, but it will also appear on buttons being sold to raise funds for the Niagara-on-the-Lake Christmas Parade.
Her design was chosen by the parade’s donation committee. Kerr, for one, is thrilled.
“Maybe he can bring joy to the people that wear the button and the people that watch the parade,” she said.
She describes the work as “pop art,” a style from the ’50s and ’60s utilizing bright colours made popular by the likes of Andy Warhol. It’s something that Kerr said is a little different for her.
“I usually work in more impressionistic styles or realism,” Kerr said. “But this was kind of fun. I thought … this is suitable for this kind of application.”
The work features a brightly-coloured nutcracker figure set against the deep blue of a starry night sky.
It was an image that caught the attention of the parade donation committee when Kerr’s work was recommended by the wife of committee member Mike Carleton.
When chair John Strecker and the rest of the committee saw Kerr’s work, Strecker said it was the perfect image for the fundraiser.
“It has all the elements of what we needed for the parade. It’s Christmassy,” Strecker said.
Boxes of buttons have been distributed to businesses across town including Sweets and Swirls at the NOTL Community Centre, the Sandtrap Pub & Grill, Avondale (Mary Street and St. Davids locations), Starbucks (Old Town and Virgil), Hendrick’s Independent Grocer (Queen Street), Tim Hortons (Virgil), the Junction (St. Davids) and the Royal Canadian Legion branch 124.
Committee members will be at Penner Home Hardware and Phil’s Independent Grocer in Virgil on Saturday, Nov. 25 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The buttons are $3 each.
“All the money goes towards paying for the marching bands,” Strecker said, adding that the total stands at $12,000 for this year’s parade.
In past years, people have been more than generous in their desire to help, Strecker said.
“When we’re seeing (people) face to face, there’s people that give us $10 and $20. They’re really supportive of the parade.”
The Niagara-on-the-Lake Christmas Parade will be held on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 11 a.m. in Old Town.