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hen Oriental’s Spirit of Christmas Boat Parade of Lights cruises by the waterfront Friday, John LaGuardia plans to be there on his Cape Dory 30, decked out in a “White Christmas” theme.

This past Saturday night, John and his crew of family and friends took the decorated boat, “Carpe Diem” to New Bern’s holiday boat parade and came away with first prize in the sailboat category.

John LaGuardia at The Bean Monday morning, with the foot-high trophy cup won in Saturday’s New Bern holiday flotilla.

John says he and his wife Jan, and friends Diane and Russ Stewart strung the boat, “Carpe Diem” with more than 2,000 white lights — the boat’s theme being “White Christmas”. What John thinks won it for them was the large white ball — from the LaGuardias’ Village Health and Fitness Center — which was also covered in lights and bounced to the lyrics, as a recording of Bing Crosby played.

There were, John reports, only 12 boats in all of New Bern’s flotilla, and 3 or 4 in the sailboat category. (John relayed that at least one boat scraped the bridge under construction, its captain relying on old GPS waypoints that had a channel where the bridge pilings now stand.)

Oriental’s flotilla coming up Friday night at 5:30, helps kick off this year’s Spirit of Christmas celebration. Organizers are hoping for a lot of boats. If you’d like to show off your lighted boat, give Mike Guzzo a call at 249-2347.

Posted Tuesday December 8, 2009 by Melinda Penkava

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