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Whitey’s Boat Parade ferries support for Safe Animal Shelter

Jeff Becker’s Nightmare Before Christmas wins top honors at annual event

Posted 12/19/24

FLEMING ISLAND – Josh and Brittney Doyle said they spent more than two weeks working every night getting their 30-foot pontoon boat ready for last Saturday’s Whitey’s Lighted Boat Parade. Their …

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Whitey’s Boat Parade ferries support for Safe Animal Shelter

Jeff Becker’s Nightmare Before Christmas wins top honors at annual event


Posted

FLEMING ISLAND – Josh and Brittney Doyle said they spent more than two weeks working every night getting their 30-foot pontoon boat ready for last Saturday’s Whitey’s Lighted Boat Parade.

Their boat won the 2023 competition, so they wanted to take this year’s plan to another level. While their preparation undoubtedly exceeded their expectations, so did everyone else’s.

Imaginations seemed limitless as a parade of boats idled slowly along Swimming Pen Creek in the 22nd edition of the charitable event that supports the Safe Animal Shelter. Hundreds lined the docks and stood along the County Road 220 bridge or at reserved tables facing the creek inside the iconic restaurant for one of the popular holiday events in the county.

Boats started from the Whitey’s docks and idled toward Doctors Lake before returning along the western side of the creek and back to Whitey’s.

Judges selected Jeff Becker’s 26-foot pontoon’s Nightmare Before Christmas as the Grand Prize winner. The float had a large ghostly purple wave that seemed to be chasing Santa Claus. It was very colorful and featured the character Zero.

The judges then showed diversity by voting for Tom Termer’s 12-foot kayak in second place. The small boat and paddle were covered in bright Christmas lights, and Termer kept pace with the larger boats by paddling the route from the bridge to the lake and back.

Surfing Santa by Team Get-N-Real, captained by Jeff Sowell in a 25-foot Contender, was third. That boat had lighted waves and dolphins, blow-ups of turtles, crabs and a surfing Santa.

Inside, there was a 50/50, silent and several raffles, including ones for $1,000 and $500 gift cards and a pair of Meta Quest Vision Goggles to support the no-kill shelter’s medical programs, animal food and other supplies. Last year’s boat parade collected a record $25,532, and this year’s goal was $30,000, said Alex Ham, grandson of Whitey’s founder Whitey and Ann Ham.