A CLOSER LOOK -- The tradition floats on

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- A 93-year tradition is about to take a detour.

When it takes off today from Collins Island, the Newport Harbor

Christmas Boat Parade will likely be embarking for the last time on the

route it has followed since the 1960s. And it could be the last time

parade watchers will have seven days to enjoy the event.

In August, the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce announced it will

change the parade route beginning next year, cutting out the westernmost

portion of the channel between Lido Island and Lido Peninsula and the

part of the route at the harbor’s entrance.

They also said they would shorten the parade from seven consecutive

days to five. Instead of holding the parade’s first night on Dec. 17,

starting in 2002, the parade will begin on the third Wednesday in

December.

But, due to a thunderous outcry of opposition, chamber of commerce

leaders say they will meet early next year to reconsider the changes.

From the start, organizers say their goal has been to reverse an

unnerving trend they’ve witnessed over the past few years: Boaters,

overwhelmed by the time commitment of participating in the parade, have

been dropping out before reaching the end of the parade route.

“The parade starts at 6:30, so you line up at about 6 p.m.,” explained

chamber President Richard Luehrs. “Then you’re not at the end of the 2

1/2-hour to 3-hour parade until probably 10 p.m. Consider that it could

take you another 20 minutes before you even get back to your boat tie-up

to close up for the night, and that’s a long time to be on the harbor

seven nights in a row.”

The parade, once touted by the New York Times as one of the top 10

holiday events in the nation, is a victim of its own success. Unable to

please all the people all the time, organizers have tried to weigh in the

concerns of businesses and residents with the boaters in hopes of

striking a compromise. Restaurants, bars and other waterfront businesses

have come to count on packing the house with patrons who come to view the

parade over dinner and drinks. Homeowners along the parade route have

held parade parties for years in a row.

No one wants to be cut out, but something had to give.

CUTTING MAD

Two easily cuttable portions of the parade route at Lido and the

harbor entrance where selected, in part, because of what’s on the shore

there: private homes but no businesses. That was the way, parade

organizers decided, to inconvenience the smallest number of people.

But that hasn’t made those few people feel any better about being left

out. On the contrary, some have gotten mad. So mad, in fact, that their

wrath caused boat parade chairman Brett Hemphill to resign in disgust

after one man said he’d call for residents to boycott the Costa Mesa

retailer Hemphill’s Rugs & Carpets.

“It’s a less-than-thankless job,” Hemphill said after he announced his

resignation.

The parade will be about 22 minutes shorter on the new route.

“It’s unfortunate that those people are going to miss out, but I’ve

met with the chamber and I’m convince their concerns are legitimate,”

said City Councilman Steve Bromberg, whose Balboa Island constituency has

an especially high stake in the parade. “But it’s sad because boat parade

parties on Balboa Island and Lido and Peninsula are just historic.”

Bromberg met with boat parade organizers earlier this year when a

portion of Balboa Island seemed headed for the parade route’s cutting

room floor.

After learning that the North Bayfront section of the island might be

cut from the route, Bromberg met with parade organizers and convinced

them to leave North Bayfront on the route.

“I took criticism for that,” Bromberg said, “but I did what should be

done. I did my job.”

NOT THE FIRST CHANGES

Since gondolier John Scarpa and developer Joseph Beek started what was

then called the Tournament of Lights in 1907, the parade and its course

have undergone a lot of changes. The current route -- which begins at

Collins Island and winds past Orange Coast College’s crew base, Lido Isle

Yacht Club, Marinapark, Channel Reef and other parade points -- has been

in place since the 1960s.

On its slowest nights, more than 100 boaters usually participate,

showing off their elaborate, dazzling and sometimes overboard

decorations. On the weekend, up to 200 boats are on parade. About a

million people view the parade each year from restaurants, beaches, homes

and just about any open space on the parade route where they can stop and

enjoy the show.

Everyone agrees that it’s one of the premier holiday events in the

country and a jewel in Newport Beach’s crown. But getting people to agree

on the best way to preserve the parade’s splendor is, clearly, a much

harder task.

“I know this has a rich tradition,” Luehrs said. “But we’re concerned

that if we don’t make these changes, it will hurt the parade for

everyone.”

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .