NAHANT — The Tides Restaurant is working a little extra to spread joy and warmth to residents this holiday season, such as its annual parade fundraiser to generate support for the Tom Hutton Christmas parade.
The restaurant hosted its yearly Christmas Parade Fundraiser on Saturday, during which community members were encouraged to bring donations in the form of a variety of foods, money, or gift cards. Proceeds from the fundraiser will be used for the Tommy Hutton Parade Scholarship Fund.
The fundraiser has been a yearly event for the restaurant going on 26 years, Tides Owner Michael O’Callaghan said.
“The holiday parade started about 27 years ago, and we started the following year, and it just picked up from there,” O’Callaghan said.
The annual parade itself is rooted in the local tradition of spreading joy and cheer to others. Nearly 27 years ago, former police Lt. Tom Hutton was inspired to keep the spirit of Christmas alive and set out to start a parade to properly celebrate the holiday. Soon after, the parade grew in size when the Police Department was joined by the Fire Department and Department of Public Works.
The fundraiser falls a week prior to the annual Christmas Parade, which will be this upcoming Saturday.
“On the night of the parade, people can come in [to the Tides], and they’ll get free pizza, hot chocolate and other refreshments,” O’Callaghan said. “We supply the space, help put all the donations together, but it’s all the people who donate that make the difference.”
