CORONA DEL MAR TODAY

CdM Business Group Discusses Christmas Decorations

July 4 is around the corner, but don’t forget — there are 179 days left until Christmas, and snowflakes and stars lit up the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce offices today during a discussion of the village’s holiday decorations.

At the CdM Business Improvement District board meeting, members heard a presentation from the Dekra-Lite holiday decoration representative that included a bid for refurbishment to existing decorations, as well as ways the village could upgrade its holiday look.

Among the considerations were additions of lighted wreaths and reindeer that could be mounted to the palm trees in the median of East Coast Highway near the Marguerite intersection, as well as adding a new star on top of the median Christmas tree, lighted snowflake tree decorations and several lighted polar bears and penguins that could be grouped around the tree.

The bill to add all the new decorations would be $26,000, said Stacey Jordan, an account executive for Dekra-Lite.

“Every year, you can add a little bit more,” she said. But adding even a few new features would make the median’s holiday display “fresh and new,” she said.

B.I.D. board members quickly dismissed adding the lighted animals, which would cost $17,585.16 including installation, storage and removal services.

“I don’t think we need the animals,” said Linda Leonhard, president of the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce. “It’s more elegant without the animals, and it takes away from our dolphins.”

The group also seemed ambivalent about adding 10 fiberglass “presents” for under the tree at a cost of $9,690.42, but adding lighted wreaths or shooting stars to the palm trees appealed to some members.

B.I.D. member Bernie Svalstad suggested the group revisit the discussion after studying the group’s budget and whether money was left over from funding an entryway traffic study.

Dekra-Lite also proposed refurbishing the grapevine reindeer that decorate the median. Dekra-Lite also installs the village’s streetlight holiday banners, bows to the clock and entryway signs and greenery on light poles.