Island in the stream

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT HARBOR -- Apart from the occasional traffic congestion and

uncertainty about the future of the parade route, residents of Balboa

Island say they love the annual Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade.

Virginia Furmanski says she enjoys watching the bright holiday lights

and decorated boats from her bedroom window.

“It’s absolutely wonderful,” she said. “Every year we have holiday

parties, and we have friends and family over. It’s great.”

Steve Simon, who lives on the island and owns an art gallery there,

says parking is and has been his biggest nightmare.

Simon says he closes his gallery for the evening on parade nights.

“I’ve seen that people just like to stop and gaze in store windows

rather than go in and shop,” he said. “The downside is all the traffic

and parking scares away customers during this time.”

But he enjoys the parade immensely as a resident, he said.

“It is very unique,” said Simon, who moved to Balboa Island from

Chicago eight years ago.

“It was almost magical for me to see boats navigating on the water at

Christmas time,” he said. “Every year, it never gets old. It gets

better.”

Boat parade parties, however, have not worked out too well for him,

Simon said.

“It’s kind of stressful because people call you on the cell phone not

knowing how to get there,” he said.

Traffic control is also the main challenge for the police in the area

during the boat parade, which is otherwise peaceful, said Newport Beach

Police Lt. Doug Fletcher.

“That’s mostly the complaints we get from the people in the area too,”

he said. “Typically streets like Newport Boulevard and Coast Highway pose

the biggest challenges.”

City Councilman Steve Bromberg, who also lives on Balboa Island, said

this year’s parade was probably the most captivating among those he had

seen in the last 15 years.

“I thought the boats were decorated a lot more, and there was this

spirit of Americana,” he said. “There were fewer boats, but it was

probably the best-lit parade.”

Future challenges surrounding the event include determining a parade

route agreeable to most residents if not all, and deciding whether or not

the event should last a whole week, Bromberg said.

“It’s not the council’s decision or the city’s decision,” he said.

“But the best solution may be to keep the route as it is and shorten it

to four days. I think we need to strike a balance between what the

businesses want and what the residents want.”

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .