Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade roars to life Wednesday

Snoopy and a band of fire-belching dinosaurs on a yacht puttering around Newport Harbor isn’t exactly an everyday sight.

But Greg Killingsworth’s even have Santa hats.

Killingsworth, his wife, Nor, and their festive friends will be on float No. 25, “Snoopy’s Big Family World,” in this year’s Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, which opens Wednesday for its annual five-night run.

The lights have been strung with care, the amplifiers that will play growling effects and “Jingle Bell Rock” are arranged for ideal impact, and the 5- to 10-foot-tall riveted sheet-metal dinosaurs, which spend most of the year as yard art outside the Killingsworths’ Modjeska Canyon home, are bolted and zip-tied to their plywood platform. So are their little dragon cousin — which will wear a red light bulb on his face, Rudolph-style — and Snoopy, because Snoopy is always there.

Dino, the dad dinosaur, looms on the starboard side with son Junior at his tail. Mother Molly is on the port side.

On Monday, the propane-fueled “fire puffer” rig that sends glowing clouds above the scene was puffing smoothly, and the one that powers Dino’s flicking flame tongue was roaring easily. Killingsworth was giddy.

“I’ve got fire coming out of their mouths,” he crowed from his slip at Newport Dunes Marina, where he keeps his 30-foot power yacht, Paradise Found.

“Nobody in the parade has anything like that.”

Killingsworth, 70, is a semi-retired corporate communications professional. He used to put on large corporate meetings for clients like Toyota, so a floating party with a couple of dinosaurs seems like a light task.

About 10 years ago, he decided to join the boat parade, a Newport Beach winter tradition now in its 109th year.

“I didn’t really know anything about the boat parade, but I wanted to be in it. Kinda looked cool,” Killingsworth said.

It started simply enough. On the bridge of his yacht he plopped an inflatable yard decoration of Snoopy in Flying Ace mode atop his familiar red doghouse. Snoopy controlled the reins to illuminated wire reindeer, and they cruised to opera tenor Andrea Bocelli’s Christmas album.

The display won the prize for best music. It repeated the next year, when Snoopy steered the deer to Kenny G.

“After that, I decided to make it more theatrical,” Killingsworth said.

Last year, the dragon was an angel atop a tree made of strings of lights. Another year, Killingsworth made a tribute to Newport favorite John Wayne by lighting up a bucking stallion statue and playing Duke films on 60-inch monitors.

Killingsworth said kids like Snoopy, so he decided to keep him onboard. But these days, Charlie Brown’s buddy doesn’t have much in common with the rest of the set. He’s more like a title sponsor.

The flame-thrower setup is a step up from three years ago, when Killingsworth rigged his “granddaddy” dinosaur, a 15-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus rex named Mr. T, to shoot a jet of faux fire from a fog machine. That netted him the sweepstakes prize in the non-commercial class.

This year, Killingsworth is going for the same prize with Mr. T’s offspring.

“He’s not on the boat this year,” he said. “He already won.”

IF YOU GO

What: Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade

When: 6:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday; fireworks at 6:15 p.m. opening day at the Newport Pier and 9:05 p.m. closing day at the Balboa Pier

Where: Starting and ending at the tip of Lido Isle in Newport Harbor

Grand marshals:

• Wednesday: Vicki Gunvalson of “The Real Housewives of Orange County”
• Thursday: Newport Beach’s firefighter, seasonal lifeguard, lifeguard supervisor and police officer of the year
• Friday: Montage, the Orange County School of the Arts’ vocal and dance troupe
• Saturday: Los Angeles Chargers cheerleaders, the Charger Girls
• Sunday: USC marching band and song girls

Cost: Free to watch

Information: christmasboatparade.com

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD