The Eight Annual Christmas Boat Parade set sail on Saturday, Dec. 15, 1979 at 5:30 p.m. Starting at the turning basin of Port Everglades, the parade, consisting of 180 boats and viewed by more than 250,000 people, headed north on the Intracoastal Waterway, past the reviewing stand at Bahia Mar and on to Lake Santa Barbara at the border of Broward County.
Consider Joining The Christmas Boat Caravan
There were five official categories for boats:
- Best Decorated Cruiser Of More Than 30 Feet
- Best Decorated Boat Under 30 Feet
- Best Decorated Sail Boat
- Best Decorated Commercial Entry
- and Most Unique and Original Design
For the first time, in 1979, the committee decided to let land establishments along the Intracoastal Waterway in on the fun – and the prizes.
For land establishments, there were four categories to enter:
- Best Decorated Private Home
- Best Decorated Condominium Or Apartment Building
- Best Decorated Restaurant Or Lounge
- and Best Decorated Marine Or Commercial Establishment
Prizes were handsome plaques engraved with a drawing of the winning boat or building.
Bill Davell was the 1979 Chair of the 13 member Christmas Boat Parade Committee of the Fort Lauderdale Area Chamber of Commerce, which included previous chair Kaye Pearson, Ben Symmers and Jerry Pascoe.
Grand Marshal and Honorary Chairman of the parade was Ralph Renick, news director for Miami’s television station WTVJ, Channel 4.
The Chamber’s parade was co-sponsored by the Fort Lauderdale Area Board of Realtors, the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, and the Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel.
