Changes afloat for boat parade

S.J. Cahn

NEWPORT BEACH -- It won’t happen this year, but changes are coming to

the Christmas Boat Parade.

In a letter expected to land in mailboxes starting today, the Newport

Harbor Chamber of Commerce is announcing that the annual holiday event

will be cut from seven to five days and its route shortened beginning

with the 2002 parade.

“We know that we’re going to get some complaints, but we think [the

changes are] absolutely essential to bring a product to the table in the

first place,” said Richard Luehrs, the chamber’s president and chief

executive.

The changes to be made are twofold. Rather than seven nights, the

parade will run five and begin on the third Wednesday of December. And,

to shorten the time of the parade by about 30 minutes, the portions

through the western edge of the channel between Lido Island and Lido

Peninsula and to the entrance to the harbor will be eliminated.

Cutting Monday and Tuesday made sense, Luehrs said, because those are

the two least-attended nights.

He also emphasized that the chamber decided to hold back on making the

changes until next year’s parade to give people ample time to alter

holiday plans.

The need for changes came up for debate after officials at the chamber

met to review the 2000 parade. They recognized some problems, mainly that

many boat owners who began the evening in the parade didn’t last until

its end.

To fix that problem, officials began looking at the route to see where

parts could be trimmed to shorten the time boat owners have to commit

each night.

Other route changes that had been discussed included eliminating a

turnaround just south of the Back Bay Bridge and skipping Balboa Island’s

north side.

Councilman Steve Bromberg, who lives on Little Balboa Island, said he

was relieved the island had been kept on the route.

“I’m very pleased that they’re still retaining the character of the

parade for Balboa Island,” he said, adding that he expected business

people on the island to echo his response.

“I think, ultimately, this will be a fine compromise,” said Bromberg,

who entertains guests during the parade each year.

Bromberg also said cutting Monday and Tuesday made sense if any nights

had to go.

Longtime Balboa Peninsula civic activist and Realtor Dayna Petit said

she didn’t blame the chamber for reducing the event to five days.

“Five is plenty because it’s a big effort,” she said.

She noted, however, that not everyone would agree that the changes are

for the better.

“But there are going to be a lot of people upset about the parade

route change,” she cautioned.

Raymond Vincenti, a 30-plus-year resident of Lido Isle, is one of

those upset residents.

“There’s quite a few residents of the channel, and we’ve always

enjoyed the boat parade,” he said. “It seems an awful shame to lose it.”

Vincenti added that he didn’t understand why, with the reduction in

nights, the chamber also needed to cut back the parade’s route.

“It hurts residents of Lido Isle,” he said.

The parade, which routinely draws 1 million people to Newport Harbor,

started with just eight lighted canoes and a single gondola back in 1908.

Now, more than 100 boats are decorated for the harbor cruise.

Founded by Venetian gondolier John Scarpa, it was taken over by Balboa

Island founder Joseph Beek, who named it the Tournament of Lights, in the

1920s.

In 1946, the parade evolved into the Christmastime attraction that the

New York Times has named a top 10 yuletide event when a group of Newport

Beach city employees transformed a barge into a Christmas scene, complete

with tree and lights, and proceeded to take the boat around the bay,

caroling as they went.

* S.J. CAHN is the senior city editor. He can be reached at (949)

574-4233 or by e-mail at steven.cahn@latimes.com. Editor Tony Dodero

contributed to this report.

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On parade

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