From childhood Christmas was always about lights, multicolored lights that decked doorways and eaves, lined driveways, and dangled from trees. As the year gets its darkest, with daylight hours shriveling day by day, it's these lights that bring back joy. And there is no more spectacular a light show than in our home town, Punta Gorda Florida. That light show, which began with the downtown decorations and the festival of lights at the Village, turns up a full notch this weekend as the harbor and canals are set a blaze with a parade of bedazzled boats against a backdrop of canal side decorations lighting the way.
Next Saturday, December 5, will be the twentieth Harbor Parade for Punta Gorda -- my seventh. We will be on one of the King Fisher's Boats, so wave and cheer if you are standing along the harbor, or at Harpoon Harry's or at one of the many canal home parties. The parade starts out on Edgewater Lake on the Port Charlotte side of the harbor at about 6 PM. If you can, this is a good spot to see all the boats lining up at twilight before the parade into the harbor. You can watch as the first images begin to sparkle against the sunset until dusk when the lights have sufficient contrast against the sky to reach full intensity and the various boat lighting designs become apparent.
From Edgewater the parade floats directly across the Harbor and enters the PGI canal system between Palm Tree and Jamaica Way, then winds down the canal between Gulfview and Jamaica Way past the edges of Maria and Donna Courts starting to arrive at the Isles Yacht Club basin at about 6:45 PM. The boats then turn back and move along the harbor to Fishermen's Village (first boat arriving at around 7:15 PM) passing by Harpoon Harry's and the Captain's Table where crowds chant Christmas Greetings and cheer when a boat they know passes by.
Against the night sky the parade of boats reenters the Peace River and makes its way through the harbor crowded with spectator boats celebrating the holidays. At this point viewers can see the spectacle from a distance at Gilchrist Park , Benedettos or on the other side of the River from Portofinos. The boats then go under the bridges and glide into Laishley Marina's basin, where John Wright, President of the Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce announces the various boats as they float by and the parade comes to an end.
The weekend holiday festivities will be kicked off by another celebration of light -- the lighting of the Punta Gorda Downtown Christmas Tree Friday, December 4. The first lighting will take place around 6 o'clock with a full ceremony at 7:30 at Olympia and Taylor. Local choirs, pipers and more plus entertainment and festivities provided by downtown merchants will add to the festivities --- and don't forget there will be snow, even in the tropics.
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