Lighting up the season

Young Chang

Your merry neighbors are at it again.

The ones who trimmed the tree the day after Thanksgiving. The ones who

hung their wreaths last month. Now they’ve dusted off last year’s lights

and polished off the vinyl elves.

They’ve made all the bushes glow, made every windowpane flash green.

They’ve plugged their Christmas cheer into Newport-Mesa. Literally.

Eric and Shirley Pepys’ electricity bill will double this month, which

isn’t bad considering what the outside of their Balboa Island home looks

like.

Miles of lights and illuminated Christmas characters brighten the

portion of the harbor that doubles almost as a frontyard. Joggers stop

and browse, faces aglow. Neighbors come by and gush. Strangers whip out

their cameras and snap pictures in front of this random someone’s house.

“It’s quite a production, I have to tell you,” Shirley Pepys said.

But a production she gladly stages. A quick weave through Costa Mesa

and Newport Beach proves that most residents of both cities think “the

more lights, the merrier.”

Large waterfront homes have large, water-reflecting light displays.

Small apartments with terraces boast glow-in-the-dark balconies.

Darleen Savoji, a Newport Beach resident, says this is what Christmas

is about -- the lights, the cheer they spread, the warmth they exude

without a single fireplace in sight.

“If you don’t have a lot to give, you still have to decorate your

home,” she said. “Even if you’re short money, you still can put a light

out, maybe only light them for an hour or two.”

Joan Jordan, a Costa Mesa resident, said she’s noticed that people put

up lights earlier this year.

“I think everybody wants to get into the spirit of something, and I

think a lot of the houses are doing a lot of red, white and blue too,”

she said.

Jordan, who has a Raggedy-Ann-esque Mr. and Mrs. Claus welcoming

visitors to her front porch, says she and her children always drive to

the corner of Santa Ana Avenue and Albert Place to see Jim Jordan’s --

who is no relation -- “Peanuts” display. She calls that house the “Santa

Claus house.”

Jordan says she decorates her Fullerton Avenue home to get into the

holiday spirit.

“I think we need to be giving and thinking of others and having a

little happiness and fun,” the 70-year-old said.

Mrs. Claus has her arm slung around Santa’s shoulders. She’s wearing

spectacles, an apron, a red skirt and a jacket with a Peter Pan collar

that jingles. He’s wearing his red and white suit with black boots, green

gloves and a jingling hat.

They’re holding, together, a mini-American flag.

People “always comment on my yard,” said Jordan, whose home is one of

the oldest in Costa Mesa and once belonged to former mayor Charles

TeWinkle.

The Pepys family also enjoys a shower of comments. With their house on

the boardwalk -- a good walking route in Newport Beach -- they’ve met

people from every country, Shirley Pepys said.

“People are so excited to see it, and it makes people happy,” she

added. “And I guess it brings as much joy to me as it does to people who

are walking down the sidewalk.”

The homes on Balboa Island are among many of Newport Beach’s usual

Christmas-display suspects. Stroll along the boardwalk and you’ll find

that houses and piers are strung with lights that end up looking twice as

bright because they reflect off the water at night.

Everyone has his or her own idea of where to go to see beautiful

displays: the Trinity Broadcasting display off the San Diego Freeway, the

tree at Fashion Island, the next-door neighbor’s house.

Ed Fawcett, chief executive and president of the Costa Mesa Chamber of

Commerce, recommends the outdoor grass area at South Coast Village if

you’re looking for “just a lovely evening kind of setting.”

He has also been struck by the intensely lighted Christmas tree at

South Coast Plaza -- visible between the Orange County Performing Arts

Center and the Westin Hotel.

“It’s always just a lovely setting over there,” Fawcett said. “And

just wandering the plaza, it’s always beautifully decorated.”

In Costa Mesa, houses on the corner of Tustin Avenue and Costa Mesa

Street are fun to admire, said Doug Stuckey, who lives in Costa Mesa but

is the spokesman for the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce. One home has

even lighted its bushes and trees.

“Everything’s lit up, and it’s pretty decked out,” he said.

Stuckey is also fond of a spot by the Balboa Pavilion and the Fun Zone

area.

“It’s nice because there’s a lot of parking down by the pier area,” he

said.

Lido Marina Village also offers a generous display of lights, not to

mention a parking garage.

Stuckey recommends the harbor spot between the American Legion Hall

(215 15th St.) and 18th Street in Newport Beach.

“People can view the parade there as well,” he said, referring to the

city’s annual Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade, planned for Dec.

17-23.

But Pepys, as a Balboa Island resident, said the boardwalk is the

“happiest place on earth” when it comes to viewing Christmas lights.

Her home, which is shaped sort of like a gingerbread house, displays a

movable Santa and elves who illustrate, through what they’re holding or

doing, what happens at the North Pole on Christmas Eve.

“I don’t know how many thousands of lights are around here,” Pepys

said, “But the dock is lit and decorated as well, and we have lights and

garlands around all the windows.”

One elf is pounding a truck with a hammer. Another elf is putting a

little saddle on a rocking horse. Yet another is sawing something. Santa

is painting a car.

Pepys, who owns Teddy Bears and Teacups on Balboa Island, said she was

lucky to grow up in a home where Christmas mattered.

Her mother was the type who spent two days looking for the perfect

Christmas tree. She decorated the home with animated characters and

lights, and Pepys still remembers the joy of watching the house glow.

“I guess somehow that left an imprint,” she said. “And I can’t tell

you how much I enjoy it when I stand outside and the people [watching]

don’t know I live here.”