June Casagrande
Today marks not only the first day of the 94th annual Christmas
Boat Parade, but the first year that controversial changes to the
parade route and schedule will take place.
Now, parade planners say, they are finally seeing the benefits of
enduring a furor that erupted when the changes were announced last
year.
The number of boats registered in the parade by Sunday night was
70, up from last year's 55. And planners are optimistic that by
today, they may return to the parade's glory days of attracting more
than 100 entries every year.
"Our intent was to provide a better parade for the viewing public,
to get more boats involved," said Richard Luehrs, president of the
Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, which helps put on the event each
year.
This year, the parade will take place over five days instead of
seven. For three of those days, the route will be shorter than in
previous years, cutting out a section of the route that is lined
almost exclusively with homes.
Parade planners announced last year that they would shorten the
parade to help reverse a steady decline in the number of parade
participants. Public outrage was so intense that boat parade Chairman
Brett Hemphill resigned in disgust after receiving harsh criticism
and a threat that his business would be boycotted.
The chamber, in part through its Commodores Club, decided to
experiment with a compromise: The old, longer boat parade route would
stay in tact for two nights only, Friday and Saturday. That way,
residents cut from the route on other days could still enjoy the
parade in their backyards on the two nights most popular for
parade-watching parties.
"The chamber is being very open-minded, and I give them a lot of
credit for that," Mayor Steve Bromberg said. "They have tried to
compromise as best they could. And I'm very appreciative that North
Bayfront [on Balboa Island] was kept in the loop, because that's a
place where kids can watch the parade before their bedtimes."
Cutting businesses out of the loop was just not an option.
Hundreds of thousands of spectators will watch the parade this year,
Luehrs said. As a result, the event is one of the biggest boons of
the year for restaurants, charter boats, retailers and other tourist
businesses.
Several years ago, the chamber tried to put a dollar figure on how
much money the event means to Newport Beach. Though they concluded
that it's too hard to nail down a number, Luehrs said it's well into
the millions.
