SANTA’S PARADE OF LIGHTS beginning at 6 p.m. at the corner of St. Joseph Blvd. and Youville Dr. The parade will follow its traditional route down St. Joseph Blvd. to the Orléans Town Centre.

1ST ANNUAL HOLIDAY MARKET from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic School, 6400 Beauséjour Dr. Featuring holiday gifts, Ottawa 67s tickets, clothing, jewelry, baked goods and much more. Admission is free. All proceeds benefit the school. More details: facebook.com/sktcouncilocsb; twitter.com/SKTCouncilOcsb #SKTHoliday; or email Natasha at Ltasha58@yahoo.ca.

35TH ANNUAL ORLEANS CHRISTMAS CHOIRFEST starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Pentecostal Church, 1825 St Joseph Blvd. Admission is free, however, a free will offering will be collected during the intermission and divided between the Orleans-Cumberland Community Resource Center and Gloucester Emergency Food Cupboard and their Christmas Food Programs.

CORO VIVO OTTAWA presents “Christmas with Brass” 6:30 p.m. at Orléans United Church, 1111 Orléans Blvd. Tickets: $20 each; free for children under 14 available through eventbrite.ca.

CUMBERLAND CHRISTMAS MARKET from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. featuring 98 local artisans at five different locations in Cumberland Village including the R.J. Kennedy Arena and the Da Artisti Studio and Gallery.

'Unbelievable' doesn't have enough synonyms for Juanita Vetter to adequately describe her recent trip to Africa. She was one of 11 Navan area women, most of them in their 70s, who recently returned from a 25-day trip to Tanzania and Zanzibar. Read more

If you are like most people, you probably think that a new smile requires having to wear bulky braces for several years or paying thousands of dollars for dental implants. And while that may have been the case 10 or 15 years ago, advances in dentistry and orthodontics means patients no longer have to settle for stained, chipped or misshapen teeth. Read more

Orléans has two more young women to add to its list of golden girls. One week after speedskaters Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann both won gold at a World Cup event in Belarus, fitness athletes Emily MacDougall and Sabrina Groleau have captured a pair of titles at the prestigious Fitness America competition in Las Vegas. Read more

As a huge fan of Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol", I was looking forward with heightened anticipation to the Ottawa School of Theatre's production of the holiday classic at the Shenkman Arts Centre on this weekend.