Harbour holiday happenings

Christine Carrillo

As the holiday season approaches, the events commence.

With the snowflakes along the pier now lighted, after the sixth

annual Light a Light of Love event held on Sunday, Huntington Beach

can now gear up for the 40th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade

and Cruise of Lights presented by the Huntington Harbour Philharmonic

Committee.

For those who missed the first one and are looking for another

chance to attend a parade to pique their holiday spirit, the boat

parade this weekend will give them that chance.

“It’s a real ride and it’s a lot of fun,” said Dick Dorsey, who

was elected this year’s grand marshal of the parade. “It’s a real

festive occasion ... a community participating thing. The boat

parade, for [Huntington] Harbour, is the start of the holiday season

here.”

On Saturday and Sunday, the harbor will showcase a variety of

decorated and lighted boats winding their way along a three-hour

route through the waterway, giving audiences a chance to witness the

area’s seasonal transformation and preparation for the highly

anticipated Cruise of Lights, which will run from Dec. 12 through 22.

As nearly 60 boats compete in 14 different categories, the parade,

which is best viewed on the bridge next to the fire house on Pacific

Coast Highway near Warner Avenue, will get audiences’ holiday juices

flowing.

Although the boat parade provides the public with only a limited

and distant view, the Cruise of Lights gives the public an

opportunity to see Huntington Harbour’s holiday-lighted homes and

holiday decorations up close.

The Cruise of Lights, which benefits local school music programs,

will offer weekday cruises at about 6, 7 and 8 p.m. and Saturday and

Sunday cruises at about 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.

As the boat parade and Cruise of Lights return for another year,

the city’s longtime Rent-A-Santa program will not.

The program, which ran for two to three weeks every December,

would give people a chance to hire a Santa to visit their children

for 15 to 30 minutes at a time for a small fee.

“It was a good program and it was popular,” said Richard Barnard,

special project manager for the city. “It just wasn’t paying for

itself and it was costing us money.”

Due to recent budget reductions, the city decided to cut the

program this year and is uncertain whether it will be brought back,

Barnard said.

For more information about the boat parade or Cruise of Lights,

call (714) 840-7542.