NOVEMBER 23, 2017 // 9
IF YOU GO
By BRENNA VISSER
COAST WEEKEND
uring the days leading up to Sea-
side’s Parade of Lights, Hillcrest
Inn guest manager Ruth Swensen
said walking into her hotel can “seem
like a madhouse.”
In a back room of the Hillcrest House,
tables are piled with strings of lights,
nutcracker hats, tree decals and a variety
of other holiday decorations. Hanging off
the backs of chairs are elaborately made
nutcracker coats that have lights woven
into the fabric, flickering on and off.
Around the table, three business owners
debate the merits of different-sized
snowflake decals for different costumes.
“I know it looks crazy, but it’s taken
a lot of years for us to come this far,”
Swensen said.
The stockpile of holiday doodads is
a snapshot of all the work Swensen and
her friends put into creating the Hillcrest
Inn’s float for the Parade of Lights, one
of many events that make up the festival
“Yuletide in Seaside,” now in its 44th
year.
From the day after Thanksgiving to
Sunday, Nov. 26, the holiday festival,
sponsored by Pacific Power, will feature
caroling, a tree lighting, the Seaside
Artisan Gift Fair and a parade down
Broadway Street, said Brian Owen, ex-
ecutive director of the Seaside Chamber
of Commerce.
“A lot of what we do is for the tour-
ists,” Owen said. “This is the one time
we really get to touch the community.”
D
COLIN MURPHEY PHOTO
Alexa Anderson, left, and Sai Rajsavong, right, rig part of a costume with lights for the an-
nual Seaside Parade of Lights as Ruth Swensen works on her costume in the background.
tribute, and we don’t always agree, but
overall it’s just so much fun,” Anderson
said. “When you know Ruth, you know
she will always get you involved with
something.”
Passing on the tradition
‘Why not?’
Swensen started participating in
the Parade of Lights about seven years
ago. While the float entry is under the
Hillcrest Inn name, the inspiration to join
came from two special guests.
“I have these two girls, Hannah and
Lydia, who have been staying at the
Hillcrest since they were babies. Every
year they have come to Seaside to see the
parade,” Swensen said. “One day they
told me, ‘We should be in the parade,’
and I said, ‘Why not?’ I’ve always liked
to dress up, anyway.”
Since then, Swensen, with the help
of other community members and hotel
guests, create costumes and build floats
designed around the themes these two
girls choose each year. This year, the
girls chose to be reindeer.
“We’ve had all sorts of themes. Frosty
the Snowman, elves, fairy princesses,”
FRIDAY, NOV. 24
Seaside Artisan Gift Fair: Peruse
more than 70 craft holiday craft
booths, noon to 5 p.m. at the Sea-
side Convention Center.
Parade of Lights: starts at 7 p.m.
on Broadway Street.
Tree lighting with Santa: Visit
Santa at Pocket Park across from Pig
n’ Pancake, 8 p.m.
SATURDAY, NOV. 25
Holiday Shopping at Elk’s Lodge:
Personal consultant products will be
featured 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Seaside
Elk’s Lodge at 324 Avenue A.
Seaside Artisan Gift Fair: Peruse
more than 70 craft holiday craft
booths 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Sea-
side Convention Center.
SUNDAY, NOV. 26
Peruse more than 70 craft holiday
craft booths 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the
Seaside Convention Center.
JEFF TER HAR PHOTO
Santa waves to the crowd at the 2014 Seaside Parade of Lights.
Swensen said. “We started with just a lit-
tle wagon. Since then, one of our guests,
who also loves to see the parade, gave
us a trailer, which we use now. We had a
bus one year, but the girls didn’t like that
because they couldn’t hand out candy to
people.”
‘We all love Ruth’
With Swensen are her two friends and
fellow business owners, Sai Rajsavong,
of Sea Sai Salon, and Alexa Anderson, of
Shear Pleasures Salon and Spa, who help
turn these holiday fantasies into reality.
Rajsavong first met Swensen about
seven years ago at a Halloween costume
contest, and has since donated his time
and the tailoring skills his mother taught
him to making costumes for each year’s
parade participants.
In keeping with the Parade of Lights
theme, Rajsavong said he incorporates
about 100 strings of lights total into the
costumes.
“I just enjoy the holiday spirit and
all of the lights,” Rajsavong said. “And
Ruth. We all love Ruth.”
Anderson met Swensen first as a
hotel guest a few years ago, when she
had just come to town and was looking
for a house and a job. Like Rajsavong,
she enjoys leaning into the holiday
spirit.
“We all have different ideas to con-
With the costumes, the float and all
of the organizing in between, planning
for this parade takes a fair amount of
time.
But as the years have gone on, more
and more guests have become interested
in the parade. Most of her guests are the
type who return to Seaside year after
year, decade after decade, in the same
room during the same week, Swensen
said, making the hotel feel more like a
transient community than a business.
Several guests come specifically that
week for the parade, and some even join
the float’s walking contingent after they
check into their rooms. Others, eschew-
ing the spotlight, still come out to cheer
on the Inn’s float, Swensen said.
“Of all the things people see and
remember while they are here, it’s this
parade that sticks. They pass the tradi-
tion down to their children,” Swensen
said. “It’s easy to put in the time when it
means so much to them.” CW