Spirit of the Harbour

Christine Carrillo

Tens of thousands of visitors will once again venture to Surf City

for a look at lighted homes and a sense of the community’s holiday

spirit when the 40th annual Cruise of Lights begins today in

Huntington Harbour.

The event, sponsored by the Huntington Harbour Philharmonic

Committee, is expected to draw people from neighboring cities,

counties and states looking to get a glimpse of the elaborate designs

Huntington Harbour residents concoct each year.

A task that, for some, is a year in the making.

For Betty and Vern Mays, who have been participating in the event

for the last 30 years, the design process begins the first of the

year.

Having been recipients of nearly every award offered by the

committee and having just re-claimed the famed Sweepstakes Award, the

top honor, for the third time this year, the Mays have turned the

holiday decorating hobby into a family affair.

“My grandchildren think it’s absolutely wonderful,” Betty said.

“It started out that way with the young ones. ... I have four

children that are all married, and they all help out.”

Helping each other create a festive and elaborate design, such as

the Mays’ USS Santa, which depicts Santa Claus’ magical sailing

adventure along the backside of their home, is only one of the

benefits of the event that has continued to bring families and

friends together year after year.

Proceeds from the cruise help create music programs for children.

“It’s really great to participate in something that your family

can enjoy and at the same time help provide music programs for more

than 200,000 children in Orange County,” said Lorretta Patterson,

chairwoman of the board for the Huntington Harbour Philharmonic

Committee. “We see the results. I think statistics have proven that

children that are involved in the arts, and music especially, do

better. ... It’s an enrichment that seems to lift them to excel in

other things.”

With the notion of bringing musical education to the children in

the community, participants in the event become even more motivated

to go all out.

“All the noise and ... traffic the event brings, it’s just a part

of living in [Huntington] Harbour,” said Jane Kriesel, adding that

those inconveniences are minor when compared to the focus of the

event itself.

“It’s like it’s own little community in [Huntington] Harbour, so I

think it’s wonderful,” she said. “It’s our little tradition.”

The tradition has raised a lot of money to benefit the

Philharmonic Society’s Music Education Programs over the years.

A fund-raising event that began at a $2,000 low and reached, at

one time, a $150,000 high, the Cruise of Lights has struggled to

break-even in the last few years as costs of the event have increased

and profits have decreased, Patterson said.

“I think it waxes and wanes with the economy,” said Sheila Shey,

who has won the founders trophy for a design she has done for the

last 16 years. “I just think it’s a tremendous sense of neighborhood

community. I would simply participate for the enjoyment of our family

and our neighborhood.”

And with that mentality, committee volunteers believe the Cruise

of Lights will continue to be a success for years to come.

“We feel that we are one of the few organizations, that we know

of, that has had so much success with one event,” Patterson said.

“You have to be excellent and I think it’s because the word gets

around that this is unique -- there is such a feeling of community

here ... and the harbor looks beautiful this year.”

The Cruise of Lights will run today through Dec. 22, offering

weekday cruises at 6, 7 and 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday cruises

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

For more information, call (714) 840-7542 or visit

www.philharmonicsociety.org.

* CHRISTINE CARRILLO is a news assistant with Times Community

News. She can be reached at (714) 965-7177 or by e-mail at

christine.carrillo@latimes.com.