COME RAIN, sleet, snow, freezing temperatures and blustery winds, the Eastport Yacht Club Lights Parade, with as many as 80 festively lighted boats, has thrilled onlookers each December for 20 years, as it did Saturday.

Only sustained high winds could keep the decorated boats from entertaining visitors and residents of Annapolis. And despite one year's close call, when 50-mph winds blasted the start of the parade, the Eastport Yacht Club's biggest event has never been called off.

Thousands of people watch the parade from the Spa Creek bridge, Ego Alley, waterside restaurants, hotels, private homes, offices and boats.

Party planning for the event is serious business for the local service industry and for some hosts. Eastport resident David Fogle was at a waterfront home a week before the parade watching the preparation of gourmet delicacies by a sous chef from a Virginia restaurant. He is certain that this party was the place to be.

Annapolis resident Joyce Hartnett says, "There are certainly plenty of places to go. It really kicks off the holiday party season." The challenge for her, her husband, John, and their friend Jane Larson was deciding which party to attend. They usually watch from the foot of their street where friends open their home. But visitors from Boston were in town, as they are each year for the parade, so they held their own gathering.

For the past four years, Frank Morrow has been host to 25 to 30 people on his boat, which remains docked at his home along Spa Creek. The decorated boats come within 100 feet of the dock.

A somber aspect of this year's parade was its dedication to the memory of Straughan Lee Griffin. Griffin, an EYC member and fervent supporter of the lights parade, was killed during a carjacking outside his Annapolis home in September.

He started holding a Lights Parade party four or five years ago aboard his sailboat as a way to gather a few friends to view a unique and spectacular event. Because of his generosity and fun-loving nature, his parties grew to encompass several rooms in the Marriott Hotel. This year, he had planned to charter one of the local cruise boats for the event. Many of his friends returned to Annapolis to carry on his Lights Parade tradition and remember their friend.

"Dedicating the parade is a small token of how we feel about him," says Tim Hause, co-chairman with Annapolis resident Ken Malley of the 2002 Lights Parade.

While the parties add to the excitement, the real stars of the show are the boats. They are what have kept people coming back year after year for two decades.

Annapolis resident John Bruno has the distinction of entering the parade for more years than anyone else - 15 - and winning a number of the judged categories. His boat, Black Tie Affair, is decorated in the "Toyland" theme. Each year, he buys about 100 toys - advised by his nieces and nephews, ages 6 to 13, who arrive en masse from New Jersey and New York for the parade.

"The kids keep me doing it," says Bruno. After the parade, he donates the toys to the pediatric intensive care unit at University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

Maryland Natural Resources Police Reserve Officers Ted Jones and Juan Alvarez volunteered for the fourth year aboard the state-owned vessel the Calvert. Their participation communicates a safe-boating message. The words "Life Jackets Save Lives" flash across their boat. Jones and Alvarez compliment the event organizers on their commitment to safety first.

"The whole push at the skippers' meeting is safety, safety, safety and communications," Alvarez says. Because of the organizers' commitment to safety and thorough planning, there has never been an accident or injury during the parade.

Such a high level of organization takes months of work by the EYC's self-described elves.

Alongside the likes of Jack Fillmore, who handled registration for this year's 53 boats and helped to set and maintain the course marks aboard his boat the Mallard II, there are more than 50 core volunteer elves. They handle fund raising, logistics, the program, hospitality, judging and other responsibilities, along with many others who take care of smaller tasks throughout the year and on the night of the parade.

Former event chairman and current on-the-water elf Tom Stalder was in charge of the communications nerve center by City Dock. He remembers when little organization was needed or even considered as a few boats paraded up and down Spa Creek caroling to anyone who happened to be watching. It grew and grew until about 1987, when 40 boats kept the drawbridge open for 1 1/2 hours, causing an unforgettable traffic nightmare.

After that traffic debacle, Tom Roskelly and Annapolis got involved, helping to coordinate "public service" logistics and promote it as a featured and highly regarded Maryland event. Its popularity continues to grow with more visitors to Annapolis, parties, decorations and volunteers.

To those who saw the parade Saturday evening, don't forget to vote for the People's Choice Award by Friday. Mail or deliver a vote to the Eastport Yacht Club, Lights Parade Committee, 317 First St., Annapolis 21403. An official ballot can be found in the program, or you can simply note the name or number of your favorite boat and what you liked most about it.

Posters and note cards featuring the artwork of local painter Judith Cleater commemorating this year's event are available at many Annapolis shops, the EYC and on the club's Web site, www. eastportyc.org.

Anyone who missed the parade this year should mark their calendar for Dec. 13, 2003, and plan to come to Annapolis for this spectacular event.

Here are the results of the 2002 EYC Lights Parade:

Best in Parade: Dreamchaser, skippered by Pete Chambliss.

Commodore's Choice for Sailboat: Island Girl, skippered by Mike McEwen.

Commodore's Choice for Powerboat: Oyster Stew

Best Illumination: Fancy Dancer, skippered by Gordon Gibb.

Best Animation: Air Transport, skippered by Bruce Spaeth.

Best New Entry: Blue Eyes, skippered by Matthew Marcy.

Best Holiday Spirit: Hearts, skippered by Sunny Devese.

Best Small Powerboat: Weit N Sea Jr., skippered by Ray Simmons and Alan Mader.

Best Medium Powerboat: Elissa J, skippered by Henry Stratmyer.

Best Large Powerboat: Blue Eyes, skippered by Matthew Marcy.

Best Small Sailboat: Windfall Prophet, skippered by Jim Lavin.

Best Medium Sailboat: Wind Child, skippered by Raul Nelson.

Best Large Sailboat: Panache, skippered by Tom Coan.