THE CROWD:Boat parade awards, future financing

The 98th annual Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade awards dinner and auction brought out civic leaders, local celebs and the best holiday decorators for a festive evening last week at the Balboa Bay Club and Resort. Hotelier Henry Schielein invited the community to dinner sponsored by Fidelity Investments, Simple Green and Traditional Jewelers, and they all came for a very upbeat party filled with toasts and roasts.

Super congenial Ed Arnold of TV fame headlined the night, which began with cocktails on the poolside portico of the club. Arnold also handled the live auction duties, which raised funds to support next year’s 99th boat parade spectacle. The foyer of the club’s ballroom was lined with thousands of dollars of silent auction merchandise as well, donated by Newport merchants and boat parade sponsors to help fill the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce’s coffers.

Special recognition for the auction effort must be paid to Linda Beimfohr, chairwoman, and Bill Barrington, co-chairman. They were joined by David Beck, Homer Bludau, Kirk Dawson, Joe DuBois, Gina Frye, Stanford Green, Lloyd Ikerd, William Jacoby, Gil Lukosky, Bill Rhinesmith, Gary Sherwin, Mark Silvey, Andrew Theodorou and Stuart Walker — all local leaders and business execs working together to support the holiday effort and build community recognition. Others deserving thanks are Newport Beach Mayor Steve Rosansky, Sascha Contreras of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, Kathi Misterly, John Pomer, Wendy Hooper, Bob Kimmerlee and Lesa Vander Bie.

Thousands of volunteer hours go into producing the boat parade event, led this year by Commodore Ralph Rodheim. Thanks to television and the Internet, organizers estimate that tens of millions of people around the globe witness the harbor parade and are familiar with Newport Beach as a result. Such recognition translates into commerce.

The chamber did an excellent job thanking and showcasing all the participants in both the harbor parade and Ring of Lights land entrants. Huge video screens were erected in the Balboa Bay Club ballroom showing scenes from the recent festivities, which drew loud applause from participants and fans in the dining room.

The big sweepstakes winners of the boat parade competition were Art and Joyce Smith for their themed yacht, On Location. Others taking home honors were Larry and Deb Woodhams for their powerboat, themed Tribute, Robert Sasine and Tommy Bahamas joined forces for best sailboat, decorated as Starlight. El Navigante took first place for lights, Scout for originality, Magnanimous for music, and Watter Baby for best electric boat, to name only a few.

In the category of land lights, Carl and Mary Raymond of Linda Isle joined Robert and Christyne Olson of Little Balboa Island sharing the top honors as sweepstakes award winners. Also taking a bow for outstanding decorating were Dennis and Patty Vitarelli for best theme presentation, Holiday Magic Through the Eyes of a Child, and Phil and Mary Lyons of Harbor Island took home the Chairman’s Choice honors. Others recognized were Jim and Peggy Rich, Greg and Loretta Zimmerman, Joi Hurd, Donna Dibari, Bill and Gay Wassall Kelly, and Bob and Mary Cook, to name only a selection of enthusiastic revelers.

As a wonderful four-course dinner featuring pan-seared filet mignon and shrimp scampi was served to the overflow crowd, Michael Whitman and his band brought people up to the dance floor for a special Monday evening on the Newport Harbor.

A very excited Marion Halfacre, proprietor of Traditional Jewelers and one of the primary sponsors of the event, was awarded the grand prize drawing of the night. Henry Schielein arranged a 14-day German holiday with visits at top resorts. Halfacre was hugging anyone in sight as his ticket was called.

Other sponsors assisting the chamber for the annual event were McKinna Yachts, KIMCO, Orange Coast Yachts, Starbucks Coffee and the Daily Pilot.