Trimming the light fantastic
Mathis Winkler
BALBOA ISLAND -- Standing on the pier in front of her South Bayfront
home, Donna DiBari still seemed unsatisfied with the light extravaganza
covering her house.
“Oh, it’s still in progress,” the interior designer said Thursday,
unhappily eyeing a dark spot on one of the 40-foot-high palm trees.
One of the strands of lights that tightly wrapped the trees, framing
DiBari’s house between two glistening columns, had blown out.
A perfect appearance was important, however, because jurors for the
92nd annual Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade were making the rounds
to choose the most beautiful house decorations in the annual “Ring of
Lights” contest.
Residents could enter their lighting designs in categories ranging
from “Best Humor and Originality” to “Best Lights and Animation” to “Most
Traditional.”
DiBari took second place in the “Most Traditional” category last year
and said she hoped to score even better this year.
Apart from the trees on either side of the house, DiBari put colorful
lights on smaller trees and railings, wrapped baby palm trees in red or
green lights and added a lighted wreath to the balcony.
In the front garden, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was still waiting
for his sleigh. Visible from the street, a life-size Santa stood inside
the living room.
The one thing still missing was DiBari’s Christmas tree. Having
already spent four days on the decorations outside, she said it would
take about three more days to finish the tree.
Soon after moving to Balboa Island, DiBari said she won a “Ring of
Lights” award for the prettiest house.
Since family members and friends come over to watch the parade, she
said dropping the ritual of lighting the house wasn’t possible.
“You do it one year and then everyone expects you to do it,” she said.
“It’s nice to have the house all decorated.”
DiBari said she enjoys boat rides on the bay, but that swimming in the
water doesn’t seem too appealing.
“It’s too cold to swim,” she said. “I’m from Ohio, but I also lived in
Florida for 12 years.”
Turning her head to a neighbor’s gaudy light arrangement, which
included a reindeer carousel on the roof, internally lit candy sticks and
an army of glowing Santas, nutcrackers and snowmen, DiBari made it clear
that she had no hard feelings about being out-glowed. “We’re not
competing,” she said.
And while the lights have always come down in early January in past
years, DiBari said she might keep the palm trees covered.
“I could plug them in on the 4th of July,” she said, adding that it
took cranes to wrap the trees with lights.
On Friday, DiBari had reason to celebrate. The “Ring of Lights” jurors
awarded her first place in the “Most Traditional” category.
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