Parade awards honor the enlightened

* For more pictures of the Crowd, see Page A8.

It was an evening of celebration as the community gathered for a special event at the Balboa Bay Club and Resort in honor of the 97th annual Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade. The recent Friday night dinner, dance, auction and awards ceremony brought together a diverse crowd of Newport-Mesa support from the business sector, politics and society.

Spotted in the crowd was Newport Beach resident Mary Raymond, taking home a first-place award as a Ring of Lights winner for best humor and originality. Bob and Marcy Cook also took home a first-place honor in the category of best light and animation, and Bill and Gay Wassall-Kelly were awarded the chairman’s choice award. The sweepstakes, best humor and originality award went to Dennis and Pat Vitarelli.

The Christmas Boat Parade winners included Paul and Shirley Gerst, taking home best sailboat decor. best power boat decor went to Steve and Marilyn Harvey. Even the best electric boat decor had winners -- in fact two couples: Bruce and Becky Degler and Doyle and Barbara Barker received accolades for their efforts decorating their harbor electric vessels.

Best overall theme first-place winner was Jeffrey Woods, and the sweepstakes and best yacht club entry went to the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club and its highly decorative members Brian White, Debra and Randy Ressell, Abbott and Cindy Ayloush, Jerry Lester, and Avi and James Gowans.

First-place honors for best commercial property went to the American Legion and the father-son team Art Gonzales and Art Gonzales Jr.

The awards dinner was a presentation of the Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce underwritten in part by Lula and Marion Halfacre of Traditional Jewelers. Funds raised from the massive auction go to support the chamber and the organizing of the annual boat parade and holiday lights, which today features more than 100 vessels and draws nearly 1 million viewers to the spectacle.

Also spotted in the crowd were Jim and Cathy Busby; Argyl and Madonna Nelson; Suzie and Mike Kneubuhl; Bud Ravenscroft; Donna Dibari; Danielle Dibari Alexander; Scott Alexander; Craig McCabe; Kim Zuelsdorf; and Trent and Jenny Lattin.

* THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays.

20060204iu50scnc20060204iu50rjnc(LA)Above left, Jeffrey Woods of the Lynx Educational Foundation won first place for his theme and was a major honoree at Chamber of Commerce awards dinner. 20060204iu50qrnc(LA)Above, Paul and Suzanne King help raise funds for the Chamber of Commerce. 20060204gzf7uqke(LA)At left, Michael Bryan, Fawn Affeldt and Kirk Dawson gather for the Commodores Party at the Balboa Bay Club and Resort.