95 years and still growing

June Casagrande

Every year, the Chamber of Commerce seems to take more calls from

reporters. Every year, the excitement seems to reach farther and

wider even as it reaches new heights here at home.

That’s Chamber of Commerce President Richard Luehr’s experience

with the annual Christmas Boat Parade.

“I get the sense that there’s a larger awareness of it every

year,” said Luehrs, who added that local newspapers and TV stations

have covered the event, as have farther-reaching outlets such as

Sunset Magazine. This year, he said, chamber representatives were

interviewed by a Wall Street Journal reporter and numerous other

outlets.

Here at home, though, most already know that the parade is one of

the hottest tickets in town. Now in its 95th year, the parade kicks

off Wednesday with a new theme and a slate of entries poised to rival

or even outdo last year.

As of Monday afternoon, 80 boats were already registered to

participate, ready to challenge last year’s total of 86 boats with

last minute entries.

“It’s getting kind of feverish here with last-minute entries,”

Luehrs said.

He predicted that, including the boats that every year jump in

without registering, probably about 100 boats will be in the parade

each night, with even more on Saturday and Sunday night.

The theme of this year’s parade is “A Holiday Beach Celebration,”

encouraging boat parade entries to enjoy contrasts such as Santa and

sand, elves and surfers or even reindeer and sharks.

One of the things that makes the parade so popular is that there

are many ways to view it. Waterfront homeowners throw parties.

Waterfront restaurants have special events. And for people who want

to enjoy the parade without paying a dime, all they have to do is

stake out a spot anywhere along the water to enjoy one of the best

holiday events around. Also, Luehrs pointed out, many waterfront

restaurants are booked on parade nights. So a lot of people opt to

have dinner at restaurants a block or two from the water then walk to

see the parade.

And as always, places like the American Legion on the Balboa

Peninsula will have special parade-viewing celebrations, too.

J.T. Tarwater, commander of the legion post, said that a lot of

locations on the peninsula offer double the fun. Spectators see the

boats heading toward the peninsula at a distance from across the

harbor before the boats swoop down toward the harbor mouth.

“It’s just a big social event, a fun place to be,” Tarwater said.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

[email protected].