Fort Simpson now has dedicated parade planner for isolation celebrations

Birthday parades are becoming increasingly popular as people find new ways to celebrate milestones amid the restrictions on gatherings that come with COVID-19.

On Friday,the territory's chief public health officer officially banned all indoor gatherings effective Saturday. The government defined these gatherings as when "any amount of people get together in the same indoor space" when they don't live together.

But people are still finding creative ways to support each other, andthe community of Fort Simpson, N.W.T.,even has its very own birthday parade planner now.

Jackie Whelly recently took to social media, after seeing the trend growing in popularity, to offer to drive by people's houses and honk.

But then one parent asked her to help actually plan out a parade, and she had her first client.

'Birthdays are still very important'

Whelly is a teacher who is just coming offmaternity leave. She said it was important for her to make the children in the community feel like they aren't forgotten.

"Anything that helps the kids know that the community is thinking of them, that birthdays are still very important, even though we don't get to celebrate as we normally do."

The first parade that Whelly planned was requested by Mary Masuzumi, for her son Carter's seventh birthday on March 30.

Masuzumi moved to the community from Fort Good Hope two years ago, and didn't feel like she knew enough people in the communityto organize it herself.

"We wanted to make it feel more special ... it made him feel more loved."

Watch Carter's Fort Simpson birthday parade:

Around ten people showed up to show their support of Carter's celebration, andMasuzumi said it wasn't just her son who was moved by the parade.

"The support from everyone made my day. It wasn't just a smile for him but it was for all of us. There was a lot of love given from the community itself, and from Jackie."

On Thursday, Whelly had her second client and this time the amount of people who showed up doubled to around 20, along with the RCMPwho led the parade.

"At the very heart of it, Fort Simpson really likes to look out for each other and they really like to do anything that will make our kids happy," said Whelly.

She added that if anyone in the community is interested in having a parade they should reach out to her about it and she is happy to plan it.