Celebrating just to celebrate

Young Chang

Two feisty poodles crawled all over Newport Beach Councilwoman Norma

Glover on Sunday as she waved like a patriot from a creamy blue Alpine.

Ahead of her, Councilman Steve Bromberg proved a convincing keystone

kop as he cruised down Marine Avenue in an antique fire truck. One of

four such “kops” and the grand marshal of the 8th annual Balboa Island

Parade, Bromberg donned a gray keystone cap with a navy jacket and

cropped-pant suit that peeked a generous view of red and white striped

socks underneath.

Onlookers -- some on lawn chairs, a few on blankets -- cheered and

waved their little flags back.

Chefs in chef gear peered out from inside their restaurants and

business owners stood under antiquated doorways to take in this

once-a-year spectacle: Balboa Island celebrating ... well ... Balboa

Island.

“It’s just so adorable,” said Linda Jacobs, whose grandchildren

participated in Ensign Intermediate School’s band performance. “It’s like

stepping back in time, like the 1920s. So community oriented.”

Jacobs, left cluttered with her granddaughter’s flute, her

granddaughter’s “little friend’s” trombone and their peeled-off band

costumes, added that the event was good for morale.

“Everyone’s so fragmented in Newport Beach, but this kind of brings

everyone together,” she said.

Old cars, floats, marching bands, rock bands, city officials and a

troupe of dancing ladies called the Precision Chairs -- because they

dance with chairs -- were some of the acts that paraded down a narrow

Balboa avenue like it was Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.

Lifeguards and junior lifeguards waved from trucks. Firefighters took

a stroll in their engine. Dogs panted down an imaginary runway in

haute-couture puppywear.

Indeed, it seemed like “everyone” really was there. Residents and

visitors packed every inch of sidewalk for the annual tradition, which

started as a one-time gala celebrating the island’s new fire station in

1994.

“Everyone had such a good time, we all got together to try and have a

parade every year,” Bromberg said. “Then we realized we really didn’t

need a reason -- we’d just do it to celebrate Balboa Island.”

Katie Lewis, who co-owns retail store Even Sisters on Balboa Island,

said the parade’s gotten better every year.

“And it gets bigger. People have gotten more involved,” she said.

“Just look -- look at how happy everybody is.”

Steve and Marcia Nellesen, residents on the island, were two among

many revelers sporting “Celebrate Balboa Island 2001” T-shirts they bought from Even Sisters last week.

Parade attire included leis and grass skirts, straw hats and even

bigger straw hats, pink wigs and, of course, the requisite roller-blades

spinning from Marine Avenue to Bayside Drive, where the parade started.

Sherri Kelley, who splits her time between Balboa Island and Studio

City, said the kids and grand kids all made it down for what they

consider a rare contemporary event.

“The idea of a small-town parade,” she said. “And what fun it is.”