One more parade event

Outside of being named the Daily Pilot’s Sponsor’s Award winner for her Christmas decorations during 2007’s Ring of Lights contest in Newport Beach, Donna Di Bari said she wasn’t feeling like much of a winner at the celebratory dinner.

“I had bid on so many silent auctions and I didn’t win anything,” Di Bari said.

As she stood there discouraged, someone came by selling tickets for the grand prize trip to Germany.

“What the heck, let’s try,” Di Bari remembered thinking. The night got a whole lot better when her ticket was drawn in the raffle.

“I almost choked on my dessert!” Di Bari said, laughing. “I didn’t think I’d win anything!”

Di Bari won a pair of tickets for a 12-day trip through Western Germany, spending nights in several hotels throughout the country taking in the sights and local culture. She said she remembers looking in her review mirror along the autobahn and seeing Porsches, Ferraris and Lamborghinis at various times itching to pass her. In another instance, she met the owner of a local winery who then sent a bottle of his wine to each hotel they stayed at along the trip.

“You get to see a part of Germany that possibly a lot of people aren’t familiar with,” she said.

Next week, someone else could be in Di Bari’s position.

The Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce is again hosting its annual post-holiday event to celebrate participants in the Christmas Boat Parade and the Ring of Lights contest.

Set at the Balboa Bay Club and Resort, 1221 W. Coast Hwy., Newport Beach, participants and the public are invited to enjoy a night of dinner, dancing and prizes.

“The whole evening when I take friends or family they say it’s the most fun they’ve had in a long time. It’s really, really a special event,” Di Bari said.

Tickets are $125 and open to the public. The price includes a four-course dinner with wine and valet parking and live entertainment with the Bobby Perino Orchestra. All proceeds go to support the 2009 Christmas Boat Parade, organizers said.

“It’s definitely a higher-end event, a festive cocktail event,” said Jessica Quadra, spokeswoman for the chamber of commerce.

A silent auction will start off the night, including an auction for someone to be “Pub Proprietor for a day” at Malarkey’s Irish Pub & Restaurant. The winner of that auction gets two Malarkey T-shirts, a dinner for eight and gets to tend the bar for an hour, Quadra said.

“I think it’s important people contribute to the city and keep it coming,” Di Bari said. “This awards dinner is a great event, a super evening.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Awards dinner and auction benefiting the 2009 Christmas Boat Parade

WHERE: The Balboa Bay Club & Resort, 1221 W. Coast Hwy., Newport Beach

WHEN: 6 p.m. Jan. 23

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $125 per person or $1,500 for a table of 10.

INFORMATION: christmasboatparade .com or call the Chamber of Commerce at (949) 729-4400.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.