A new holiday tradition
June Casagrande
Today marks not only the first day of the 94th annual Christmas
Boat Parade, but the first year that controversial changes to the
parade route and schedule will take place.
Now, parade planners say, they are finally seeing the benefits of
enduring a furor that erupted when the changes were announced last
year.
The number of boats registered in the parade by Sunday night was
70, up from last year’s 55. And planners are optimistic that by
today, they may return to the parade’s glory days of attracting more
than 100 entries every year.
“Our intent was to provide a better parade for the viewing public,
to get more boats involved,” said Richard Luehrs, president of the
Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, which helps put on the event each
year.
This year, the parade will take place over five days instead of
seven. For three of those days, the route will be shorter than in
previous years, cutting out a section of the route that is lined
almost exclusively with homes.
Parade planners announced last year that they would shorten the
parade to help reverse a steady decline in the number of parade
participants. Public outrage was so intense that boat parade Chairman
Brett Hemphill resigned in disgust after receiving harsh criticism
and a threat that his business would be boycotted.
The chamber, in part through its Commodores Club, decided to
experiment with a compromise: The old, longer boat parade route would
stay in tact for two nights only, Friday and Saturday. That way,
residents cut from the route on other days could still enjoy the
parade in their backyards on the two nights most popular for
parade-watching parties.
“The chamber is being very open-minded, and I give them a lot of
credit for that,” Mayor Steve Bromberg said. “They have tried to
compromise as best they could. And I’m very appreciative that North
Bayfront [on Balboa Island] was kept in the loop, because that’s a
place where kids can watch the parade before their bedtimes.”
Cutting businesses out of the loop was just not an option.
Hundreds of thousands of spectators will watch the parade this year,
Luehrs said. As a result, the event is one of the biggest boons of
the year for restaurants, charter boats, retailers and other tourist
businesses.
Several years ago, the chamber tried to put a dollar figure on how
much money the event means to Newport Beach. Though they concluded
that it’s too hard to nail down a number, Luehrs said it’s well into
the millions.
Seymour Beek, owner of the Balboa Island Ferry, said that boat
parade nights are probably his busiest time during the winter.
Instead of having two ferries moving people on weeknights, ferry
operators have three vessels doing the job.
“The increase is during a concentrated period of time,” Beek said.
“For about two hours, everyone’s trying to get from either side to
the other, to parties, things like that.”
Another challenge this year was to find a way to benefit the
parade’s new sponsor, the cleaning product Simple Green. So the
chamber got creative.
The company’s mascot, Egbar, will be aboard the lead boat. The
alligator-like character, whose name stands for Everything’s Going to
Be All Right, will wave from the 65-foot McKenna yacht leading the
parade throughout the five-day event.
Bromberg will also be aboard the boat today to kick off the
parade. The chamber also sent out letters to several thousand
waterfront residents containing sample packets of the sponsor’s
product.
“They’ve been really fun to work with,” Luehrs said.
This year’s theme is “Celebrating America With Lights,” an
extension of last year’s patriotic theme, “Let Freedom Ring.” As
always, boats will compete for prizes for the best decorations. And
residents will compete in the “Circle of Light” home-decorating
contest for parade-route homes.
“The boat parade has been a tradition here for 94 years. It really
is the granddaddy of all boat parades,” Bromberg said. “Everyone who
comes out to see it should have a really good time.”
* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport.
She may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at
june.casagrande@latimes.com.
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