Downtown
decked out for holidays
By Joyce Kelly
On-line Forty-Niner
 City
sidewalks are not the only things that are
decorated holiday style in downtown Long
Beach. For the second year, 18 artistic
ornaments are featured along the medians
on Ocean Boulevard between Alamitos Boulevard
and Golden Shore Drive. The ornaments are
the creations of local artists Stephen Elicker
and Joseph Giri.
The huge presents, tree ornaments, snowmen
and candy canes are made of plywood, PVC
pipe, wire mesh, cheese cloth and covered
with paper-mache and painted with acrylic
paints. They are approximately nine feet
in length and five feet in diameter.
The ornaments are a gift from the Downtown
Long Beach Associates who are dedicated
to improving the appearance for the city.
They are participants in an organization
that maintains the welfare of the city.
“The Downtown Long Beach Associates is a
non profit organization operating on behalf
of the property owners and tenants of the
Business Improvement District,” said Darcy
Driscoll, marketing manager for the organization.
“The organization is dedicated to the management,
marketing, security, maintenance, advocacy,
economic and community development of the
assessment districts in cooperation with
the city of Long Beach and the private sector.”
The idea of the decorations is attributed
to Jim Brophy, a board member and owner
of Moondance Catering. He wanted to give
a sense of the holiday feeling to the people
who visit, work and live in the city.
“Placing colorful decorations along Ocean
Boulevard is ideal because it serves as
an important gateway for the downtown community,”
Brophy said.
Brophy collaborated with Elicker and Giri
for the project.
“The entire artist team has enjoyed contributing
their time to this project,” Elicker said.
“As local artists, we are proud to devote
our talents towards the enhancement of the
downtown landscape.”
The DLBA has provided 60 four-feet tall
illuminated-iridescent garland wreaths on
the light poles on Pine Avenue, from Ocean
Boulevard to 10th Street.
Carolers dressed in Dickens attire will
be strolling throughout the downtown area
at various times and locations including
West Gateway, Pine Avenue, East Village,
North Pine and Shoreline Village as another
courtesy of the association.
The organization will be promoting “12 Days
of Christmas,” that will give people
visiting the area an opportunity to win
$25 gift certificates from downtown merchants.
Winners will be chosen on a daily basis
by dropping their business cards in one
of the boxes located in the lobbies of the
Arco Center, Landmark Square, Shoreline
Square, City National Bank, 555 East, California
Bank and Trust and International City Bank,
through Dec. 17.
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