Viewfinder: Lighted boat parade

Every Thanksgiving weekend, on Saturday after dusk, a group of local volunteers rig their boats with lights and parade up the Parker Strip to celebrate the holiday season. Along the way, they are greeted by riverside neighborhoods, who wave and welcome Santa (who is usually aboard a boat). It’s a fitting way to enter the month of December in Parker, Arizona.

Here are a couple of neighborhood views to get you in the Christmas spirit, including one from Keys II, where an annual potluck on the beach involves food, drinks, fire pits, live music, kids, dogs, warm jackets and, of course, the lighted boats.