Caroling Christmas Truck (Supplied)

By Alessia Proietti

Sing loud for all to hear!

Two friends from Olds spread holiday cheer with their Caroling Christmas Truck

Dec 21, 2023 | 1:26 PM

A man sat in his walker with his head hanging down outside a senior’s lodge. The Christmas season just doesn’t feel the same as it once did. Walter Moebis and Clint Jackson pulled up in their Caroling Christmas Truck, decked in lights and decorations, and began to play holiday tunes. The old man began to move his arms, and soon enough, looked up at the white F150, and filled with Christmas cheer, he threw the walker away and began to dance in the street.

This is the kind of reaction Moebis, 70, and Jackson, 53, have been striving for over the past four years and a scene they remember vividly.

“We’re trying to hit as many people as we can. We’re out to put smiles on faces, that’s all we’re after, and the more people we can see, the better it is,” said Moebis.

The 30-year friends from Olds created the Caroling Christmas Truck four years ago for a town parade in 2020. Jackson, an airbrush artist, painted his spare pickup truck in holiday colors and cartoons as the pair decorated the rest with Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, Christmas lights and a loud speaker for music.

“Through COVID when we started this, it was because everyone was locked up and not allowed to go anywhere and they’re in their houses, so we started driving, taking Christmas to everybody else. Then we just carried on and people were really happy with it and dancing in the streets and yelling and screaming and said, ‘this is fun’ so we kept doing it,” said Jackson.

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The friends added decorations each Christmas like Santa and his sleigh, a snow globe with carollers inside, and the Grinch on the trunk.

The duo travelled across central Alberta spreading holiday cheer, from Didsbury to Bowden to Sundre.

(L-R) Walter Moebis and clint Jackson. (Supplied)

This year, they decorated the truck to withstand highway speeds and drove to Airdrie, Innisfail, Drumheller and Three Hills, among other towns along the QEII.

Moebis and his wife drive at times for seven hours a day, visiting seniors’ homes in the evenings, schools during the lunch hours, hospitals, and shopping centres, and they do it all out of the goodness of their hearts, he says.

“You see some people driving through Walmart and they’ve just got a scowl on their face. Then, they turn and look at us and their scowl just disappears, and they start jiving and dancing to the music and throwing their groceries around,” said Jackson.

“You never know when somebody’s credit card didn’t go through coming out of Walmart and all of a sudden, we put a smile on their face. You just don’t know,” said Moebis.

The truck has become more than a holiday pastime, however. It’s become therapy, they say.

After their first year, Moebis lost his son, a paramedic, and shortly after, Jackson lost his father. The team decided to carry on by writing the names of their lost loved ones on the truck along with an ode to Emergency Medical Services, as Jackson was also a former volunteer firefighter.

“[It] gets us out of our heads and instead of a heavy heart, we [have] a light heart and feel joyful watching people dancing, little kids, seniors, instead of taking up that dwelling space in your head,” said Jackson.

“You never know what somebody else is going through and they could be going through the same thing as us and if you could put a smile on somebody’s face, even for a split second, just to break whatever they’re in, it works,” said Moebis.

The two also decorate the truck for Valentine’s Day and Halloween and have been greatly thanked by the community for their smiles. This year, they were named Citizen Volunteers of the Year in the town.

“Theres so much negativity in the world right now with all the wars going on and the politics and the b.s., it’s just so nice to do something nice and see some joy out of something,” said Jackson.

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