Santa Ana Heights by candlelight

Thirty years ago when Jim Altobelli first displayed 22 luminaries outside his home on Christmas Eve, he had no idea the entire neighborhood would catch on.

This year, Altobelli and residents of the Santa Ana Heights neighborhood in Newport Beach managed to light more than 5,000 candles on four streets and many cul de sacs.

And even though his wife passed away this year, Altobelli decided to continue the tradition.

“It was very important for her,” Altobelli said.

And neighbors getting together at the corner of Orchid Street and Azure Lane, laughing and chatting, is the best part of lighting the luminaries, Altobelli added.

The luminaries are candles in paper lunch bags placed on the curbs every six feet or so. An organized group of teenagers and parents prepare them by folding down the bags one inch from the top, and pouring a little bit of sand inside the bag to weigh it down and hold a votive candle in a way that keeps the paper from igniting if a candle topples over.

The next part of the operation involves a team that loads them onto wagons and carts the bags off to be placed on more than four streets.

“Every year we hope that we get more people to join in,” said Sue Venaas, who has been placing candle bags on Orchid Street for 12 years. “We all walk around the neighborhood and it’s a big warm fuzzy for everybody. It’s really brought the neighborhood together.”

At 5 p.m., after the votive candles are lighted, neighbors are requested to switch off all their lights. It’s a rare moment of illumination that some in the neighborhood enjoy so much, they videotape it.

“My daughter looked forward to this every year when she was growing up,” said Ron Darling, a resident and official videographer. “Now she can carry on the tradition.”

“Some people say when we light it up, it looks like Santa’s passed and we’re guiding his sleigh,” Venaas said.

After dark, the flickering candles are the only source of light in the neighborhood, which has no sidewalks or street lights.

The candles are lined up from Azure Street all the way to Orchid Street, that turns into Zenith Avenue, on Spruce Avenue and even up to Bayview Street.