A Long Beach Tradition, Saturday Dec. 8 @ 5:00 p.m.: LB's Daisy Ave. Christmas Tree Lane Parade

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(Dec. 7, 2018, updated 8:50 p.m.) -- A Long Beach tradition, the 65th annual Daisy Ave. Christmas Tree Lane Parade steps off at 5 p.m. Saturday and travels from Daisy Ave./Hill Street to Daisy Ave./PCH and then returns northward along Daisy Ave. through the heart of LB's Wrigley district.

Unlike other holiday parades across the country that travel along commercial routes (encouraging crowds to spend money); the Daisy Ave. parade travels through in the heart of a residential neighborhood.

Union Bank and Hugo Diaz are making extended special event VIDEO coverage of the parade accessible worldwide, with on-demand VIDEO available starting shortly after the event and continuing throughout the holiday season on SignalTribune.com and LBREPORT.com.

Major Christmas Tree Lane sponsors include the Port of Long Beach, Chuck Butcher, John Deats, Councilman Roberto Uranga and the City of Long Beach Office of Filming & Special Events and L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn (with additional prominent sponsors listed here.)

The grassroots Wrigley Area Neighborhood Alliance (WANA) handles Christmas decorations lining Daisy Ave., transforming the neighborhood street into "Christmas Tree Lane." WANA volunteers:

Load and transport all the displays and character figurines from garages and City warehouse

Position large displays on the Lane with rented forklifts

Spiff up the displays and check the electrical system

Place up to 125 energy-efficient flood lights to highlight the displays

Pound in approximately 350 fence stakes

Position and secure 75 wooden character figurines

Unroll and install about 1/2 mile of wire fencing to protect each of 31 major display bays

Tie more than 150 red bows to the fencing

Produce and pass out hundreds of flyers and newsletters to area residents

Serve as judges for the House Decorating Contest on Daisy Avenue

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The Daisy Ave. Christmas Parade began in 1953 as the brainchild of area resident Gertrude Whittle, who convinced LB's then-City Council and Council of Churches to help decorate the median on Daisy Avenue between PCH and Willow Street with a Christmas Village and nativity scene. That prompted a number of area residents to begin decorating their homes and the annual event grew with the inclusion of more displays, entertainment nights,

In 1988, Maria Norvell and the Wrigley Association undertook efforts to revitalize the parade and Daisy Lane decorations...and the parade now continues as a firmly established Long Beach tradition.

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