Weather anticlimactic, so was celebration

It didn’t rain as expected Friday, but the forecasted storm still claimed at least one casualty.

The 14th annual Lighting of the Bay at the Newport Dunes Resort was canceled because organizers feared the rain that never came.

The event, which includes 40 20-foot trees floating in Newport Bay illuminated by a switch-flicking Santa Claus, is both an engineering and visual feat requiring several weeks of production, organizers said.

“The day before the event there was talk of possible lightning storms,” concierge Patty Watkins said. “It just didn’t seem very safe to continue.”

Despite the cancellation of its accompanying celebration — which included hay rides, hot chocolate and 20 tons of manufactured snow — the trees will remain illuminated for the remainder of the holiday season, Watkins said.

“It’s actually really quite lovely,” she said.

Newport Dunes engineer Allen Peper, who has worked on the annual festival for the past five years, said he was disappointed that all of his work wouldn’t wow the crowds this year, but sympathized with the rationale behind the decision.

“It’s a pretty big undertaking, taking about three weeks from start to finish,” he said.

Peper described the slow process of outfitting each tree with flotation devices, anchors, and electrical wiring to provide the picturesque image that newcomers — often registering in the several hundreds — have come to expect.

“We have three barges that hold power generators, and all the electrical cords run from tree to tree,” he said. “The trees float on flotation devices we build from scratch — it’s not really something you can buy — and place them in a frame we build for the tree.”

Peper himself was out in the bay with a wetsuit, wading with his colleagues to produce the scene.

“We pull the trees down to the beach and place the trees individually, where we need them,” he says.

“We’re just sorry it didn’t happen this year,” he said. “That just means we’ll be back, bigger and better, for next year.”

Residents keen on taking in the view could still attend the resort’s champagne brunch, scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Watkins said.

CHRIS CAESAR may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at chris.caesar@latimes.com.