Clowns are hoping to bring “miles of smiles” at the 112th annual Santa Claus Parade.

This year was a tad sour for clowns with a number of scares attributed to people dressing up in alarming clown costumes.

The 101 celebrity clowns in the parade hope to change that.

“We’re all smiley faces,” says Ross Morton. “Our faces are big, friendly smiley faces. Our clowns interact. Our clowns give away silly putty, balls . . . we’re all about warming up the crowd so to speak, young and old . . . .”

Morton is executive vice-president and board member of The Santa Claus Parade.

He’s also a clown, and today he’s wearing red-blue-and-yellow clown shoes that squeak as he walks.

The tradition of celebrity clowns in the Santa Claus Parade goes back 34-years, when Ron Barbaro and Norman Jewison got together with other sponsors to help out the parade.

Under the multicolour hair and red noses are bankers, doctors, businessmen and -women, nurses and other big names who pay $1,200 to support the parade and walk in it. They truly fill big shoes.

“They didn’t want anyone to know they were helping in the parade,” Morton says.

This is Morton’s 24th year as a clown. Along the route, he’s seen babies who’ve grown up and have kids of their own now. He’s taken loads of pictures with many babies, and held even more of them.

But one stands out.

About five years ago, as he was turning the corner at Wellington St., off Avenue Rd., he saw a woman holding a baby and a very old camera.

She waved to Morton who went up to her, he says.

It was the end of November, but both the woman and the baby were very underdressed for the weather, he remembers.

“She hands me her baby,” he says. “And she says, ‘Picture! Take picture! First day in Canada. Canada great. Thank you.’

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“And I started crying.

“It is very emotional.”

His voice breaks as he continues: “I mean here is someone and it was her first day in Canada . . . . She trusts me with her baby. I’m a stranger dressed up as a clown. She takes our picture and she thanks me. Wow!”

So what does he think about clowns getting a bad rap this year?

Anybody can spoil anything, but that doesn’t mean every clown is bad, Morton says.

“They’re a bunch of bullies,” says Ted Blackmore. He’s carrying a foam telescope-eye and wearing black-and-white shoes.

“I was breaking these shoes in, walking up and down the street, and then I realized, I’m going to get tasered,” he says. “I should stop doing this.”

Ben Cheung, who’s taken part in the parade as a clown for 18 years says the scary clowns are doing a disservice.

“I really hate this . . . with all the bad publicity, children might look at us and get scared,” Cheung says.

The children participating in the parade this year think clowns are funny, and they like clowns because they make them laugh.

“They dress up really funny and have big shoes,” says Sarah Devereux, who’s dressed as a kitchen elf in the parade.

“It’s not cool,” says Stephanie Chirume, who’s a North Pole princess in the parade. “And (it’s) mean.”