Hundreds of carollers gathered in a park in the southwestern Ontario community of Exeter Monday night to fulfill a local manâs dying wish.
â(Itâs) absolutely fabulous,â an emotional Harry Towle told CTV London. â(Iâve) never had anything like this in my life and I want to thank everybody for coming.â
The 78-year-old has terminal lung cancer and will likely not see another Christmas. For his final holiday wish, Towle wanted to have dinner with his girlfriend, drive around Exeter to see the Christmas lights and then stop to hear some carols.
Although they only had a little more than 24 hoursâ notice, nearly 300 people -- many total strangers -- arrived in Exeterâs MacNaughton Park to serenade Towle and his family with classic carols like âSilent Nightâ and âJingle Bells.â
âWhen I pulled up, I (went), âIs this all the people for my father?ââ Towleâs daughter, Louise Jones-Towle, told CTV London. âAnd I thought, âBoy, what an amazing turnout.â Yeah, itâs emotional.â
The turnout was also a total surprise to Towle, who grew up in the area and is now in palliative care at a nursing home in nearby Hensall, Ont.
âIt really was a surprise,â Towle said. âI didnât expect this.â
But organizer Margaret Sutherland, who works at the Hensall nursing home, wasnât surprised that so many people showed up after a call was put out on social media. The community, she said, is a caring one, and everyone wanted to make Towleâs last Christmas memorable.
âWithin 30 hours, it just kind of all came together,â she added. âIt just snowballed in a beautiful way.â
The gesture, Towle said, meant âan awful lot.â
âI canât put it in words,â he added, choking back tears.