Back in the Day La Conner's first lighted boat parade

I think it was 45 years ago that La Conner’s first Christmas boat parade launched our annual local tradition.

At that time the Swinomish Yacht Club had only 27 members, including us, so we knew it was going to be a big undertaking, but the club decided to give a boat parade a try. We published a message in the paper for a meeting of anyone who was interested in participating. It seemed like an exciting adventure at the time and we were amazed when a group turned out for the meeting to get organized.

La Conner had plenty of work boats, but not so many yachts, so we’d have to make do with what w...