Particular thoughts after the Christmas Boat Parade

This was my fourth Christmas at the Daily Pilot, and not once had

I seen the Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade.

This year, I was intent on changing that.

For the past three holidays, my reason for missing out on the

spectacle of lights was simple: My wife was working crazy holiday

hours, making it impossible to get a night free to cruise along the

harbor.

This year, that job was history. So I meant for us to be part,

somehow, of the parade.

And I did what journalists are taught to do: I called an expert,

Doug Stuckey of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, about where

would be the best place to watch it.

He got back to me with a much better answer than I’d expected: Two

spots on the lead boat on Friday night (yes, the long route).

A very public thanks, Doug, for that. Though, since he’s getting

married this week, I don’t expect he’ll see this any time soon.

Once I had these spots, I figured everything was going to be all

right (more on that thought later). Then, as the week before

Christmas passed, it rained, and stormed, and it got pretty cold.

Now, despite growing up in Southern California, I’ve spent enough

winters in South Bend, Ind., Seattle and Baltimore to be able to

handle a little cold. My wife, Bobbie, despite winters in Seattle and

Baltimore herself, has never learned to handle it. Blame growing up

in South Texas.

As the mercury continued to hover in the 50s or worse at night,

and the rain kept falling from the sky, I was a bit concerned.

But, come Friday night, about the only cloud in the sky was

positioned so perfectly that the nearly full moon rose right through

it as we headed out on a far-too-nice yacht. (Maybe you’re used to

flame maple walls; I’m most definitely not.)

There was terrific food aboard, as well as a couple handfuls of

intent parade watchers; two whom I knew, Marion and Lula Halfacre of

Traditional Jewelers fame. We all waved to the folks along the shore,

or sitting on boats or even draped over docks.

And we got to be entertained by the chamber’s Jeff Parker, who,

for those of you who watched the parade Friday night, was the one

manning the microphone.

I’m not sure how many times Jeff said “Welcome to the Christmas

boat parade,” but it had to be dozens. He showed remarkable

resiliency and continued good cheer.

And yes, it was Jeff who pointed out to thousands of people that

on the back of the boat was EGBAR, the alligator mascot for Simple

Green, which was the title sponsor for the boat parade.

EGBAR, by the way, stands for “everything’s gonna be all right” --

I told you that would come up again.

Along with Jeff, the chamber’s Karin Graves acted as the amiable

host, far too willing to fill up glasses with cider when we were more

than capable of teetering down the steep staircase from the top deck.

The evening was, simply put, delightful. And much of it was thanks

to the efforts of Jeff, Karin and Doug.

I was thinking about that as Bobbie and I walked up the ramp from

the dock. (A bonus to being on the lead boat: You beat the crowds

driving out of Lido Marina Village.) And I was struck, I’m ashamed to

admit, with a classic Christmas realization.

Throughout much of the fall, the Pilot was a forum for the

demonization of, choose your side, the Greenlight folks or the

chamber/business/developer crowd:

The Greenlighters were trying to take over the town with their

slate of Newport Beach City Council candidates.

And the chamber/business/developer crowd was trying to maintain

its strangle hold on City Hall (and by extension, the city’s future).

In other words, both represent evil incarnate.

It all made for an interesting election, and enough copy to keep

the Pilot printing. But, as the poet William Blake wrote: “To

generalize is to be an idiot.”

There was little truth in these two generalizations.

Jeff and Karin, and certainly Doug, aren’t plotting the downfall

of the city. Neither are the Halfacres, who are members of the

chamber’s Commodores Club, which is peopled by those Greenlight

attackers. These are people who want what’s best for Newport Beach.

And the folks behind Greenlight are no more wicked. Phil Arst,

George Jeffries and Evelyn Hart, to name just three, are dedicated to

improving the city in which they live.

Certainly, there is disagreement about what’s best for Newport.

But in playing up that disagreement, the beliefs these people share

(including that Newport deserves the best, that Republicans deserve

to be in charge in Washington, and, I bet, that a martini deserves to

be shaken, not stirred) get lost. And in defining each other as

“Greenlighters” or “developers,” those beliefs get stifled even more.

In 2003, both sides would do well to drop the rhetoric and talk

about these issues face-to-face, where instead of Greenlight versus

developer, we would have Phil, Tod, Gary, Jean, George and Don all

talking among themselves.

We might even cover such talks in the Pilot.

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

574-4233 or by e-mail at s.j.cahn@latimes.com.