DATE: Friday, November 14, 1997             TAG: 9711140617

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   61 lines

2 HARBOR CITIES TO SHARE HOLIDAY SPIRIT NORFOLK AND PORTSMOUTH'S BIG CELEBRATION STARTS WITH A JOINT PARADE.

Norfolk and Portsmouth are working together on one big holiday celebration this year, starting with a joint parade in Norfolk on Nov. 22.

Christmas lights in both cities will be lit simultaneously on each side of the Elizabeth River harbor at 7 p.m., just as the Grand Illumination Parade begins on Waterside Drive. Portsmouth Mayor James W. Holley III will join Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim to lead the parade that traditionally has kicked off the holiday season in Norfolk.

Although there have been some past efforts to coordinate events, such as the annual lighted boat parade in the Elizabeth River harbor, the 1997 celebration will be the first time the two cities have planned a holiday celebration together. Festivities will continue through December.

``I see us as hosting Hampton Roads for the holidays,'' said Cathy Coleman, director of the Downtown Norfolk Council. ``The river has now become our Main Street.''

The new cooperation will be dramatized this morning by officials from both cities aboard an Elizabeth River Ferry anchored in the harbor midway between Waterside and High Street Landing.

Joint promotion of events in both cities will give visitors access to one overall activities schedule.

The Downtown Norfolk Council will be boosting the parade to a new level of sophistication this year in preparation for the opening of the upscale MacArthur Center.

``We're doing some exciting things,'' Coleman said. ``We want it to be as good as it can be.''

Among this year's additions will be five giant balloons, similar to those seen in the annual Macy's parade in New York, plus elaborate floats from Portsmouth, as well as the marching bands from Portsmouth's three public high schools.

Portsmouth will abandon its smaller parade and concentrate on other activities to attract people to Olde Towne, said Sheila Pittman of the Portsmouth management team.

``This is a significant step in regional cooperation,'' Pittman said. ``It makes us all stronger.''

Coleman calls the holiday events a way ``to set the table for other cooperative events.''

A two-city committee has worked to make both sides of the river equal, Pittman said.

The lighted boat parade, set for Nov. 29, will be staged identically in both cities.

``There'll be a mirror image on each side of the river with entertainment and vendors in Portsmouth just like in Norfolk, and boats will be docked in both places,'' Pittman said. ``On that night, there'll be land-based fireworks on each side, and they will volley back and forth to emphasize the harbor as one entity. No matter which city you're in, you won't miss anything.''

The Grand Illumination Parade will start at St. Paul's Boulevard and proceed down Waterside Drive, turn right on Main Street to Bank Street, left on Plume Street to Boush Street and disband at Bute Street.

Downtown merchants in both Norfolk and Portsmouth will decorate their stores for the season, and most will be open for the special occasions. The ferry boat and water taxi will be running all day and late into the night to transport visitors back and forth between the two cities.

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