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Lighted Flotilla Takes A Village
December 16, 2015

T

he 2015 Spirit of Christmas celebration got off to a glowing start Friday night (Dec 11). For this Friday Night Lights, luminaries lined the streets, the Oriental Star was switched on, and 20 kayaks and other paddled boats brought their lights to the harbor. Along the Oriental shoreline, from the bridge to Whittaker Creek, a flotilla of larger lighted boats paraded past. Joe Valinoti organized the flotilla and has these words of thanks.

To the Editor

I’d like to thank all the Oriental Spirit of Christmas boat parade participants for doing a wonderful job decorating and navigating. I’d also like to thank the various media, yacht clubs and boating websites for getting the word out.

No event like this can be done without help.

Thank you for your assistance, Diane Miller our town manager and her staff. Then there’s Tom McIlhenney of Oriental Marina, Doug Carmichael, Wyatt Cutler, Pat Sordill, Henry Frazer, Former mayor Sherrill Styron and of course John Deaton for supplying the TowBoatUS vessel driven by Gary to lead us.

Joe Valinoti, Flotilla organizer Oriental 12/13/15l

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