Holiday Window Magic By Manhattan Beach Neptunian Woman's Club

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — In the year of COVID-19, the Manhattan Beach Pier celebrated its 100th anniversary, though certainly with much less fanfare than was due since the Novel Coronavirus managed to put a damper on any gatherings held to commemorate it.

Still, the iconic pier has sparkled in many ways — as the subject of

• the city's "Pierspective" art contest/exhibit
• the Manhattan Beach Historical Society's retrospective
• the countless photographers who snap iconic photos of it and post them all over social media
• the many eyeballs that have gazed upon its noble rustic windswept beachy charm.

RELATED: 'Pierspective' Exhibit Covers Manhattan Beach Pier's 100 Years

RELATED: Manhattan Beach Pier's 100 Years Captured By Historical Society

So, perhaps it isn't coincidental that Manhattan Beach's most steadfast club, founded in 1809, the Neptunian's Woman's Club, brought the magic of the masterful pier to dazzling holiday glory in a holiday window in time for community members to enjoy the spirit of the season.

"Our little club has been struggling all year," said Patricia Blakemore, marketing director of the club. "Our membership is down due to COVID and not meeting in person. Therefore, our donations are down."

But the club's vim and vigor came to life when Blakemore suggested they use the front window of the clubhouse to set a scene reminiscent of a New York City Macys-like holiday window. The only obstacle? Members needed to do it at zero cost and "it had to honor the 100th Anniversary of the MB Pier," she explained.

"The board loved it [the idea] and I was put in charge of forming the committee," said Blakemore. And, needless to say, the rest can be characterized as a monumental effort that came together perfectly. So perfectly in fact, that the window won First Place in the Downtown Manhattan Beach Business + Professional Association's Holiday Window contest and is such a huge hit with the wee ones.

This project has lit a fire of joy in all of our members," she said. "The spark is back for us. We are so overjoyed to be sharing our holiday window with the community. One of the things that we had not thought of in planning was that someone was going to have to stop by frequently to clean the window from all the little hands. But we are happy to do it!"

But the giving behind the window is equally special. "Within the first week, the committee had the design, and donations from club members for items in the window were coming in. The painters met on the second weekend and things moved so fast! We even had members donating additional funds for the increase in the club’s electric bill from running all the lights! Funny thing, we had members donating their husbands to do the heavy lifting and construction work. Can’t beat that!"

And then a snag: an electrical engineer was needed "to fine tune everything. I put out a call to our members for anyone who knew anyone. I literally started crying with joy when after only 20 minutes, one of our members volunteered to pay for all the expenses of an electrical engineer. If you could have seen the clubhouse when the members bought all the possible Christmas items for the window. The clubhouse was almost full. We used just a fraction of them. But the window has cost the club $0 and as a matter of fact, we will have monies left over that we will be moving into the scholarship fund."

And, when the Neptunians, who were aiming for the window to be ready for Thanksgiving weekend, heard about the Downtown Manhattan Beach Holiday Window Contest, the group pushed themselves even more. Said Blakemore, "We were nowhere near ready. But we stepped it up. One of our members, Martha Logan, spent just about all day everyday at the clubhouse fine tuning the painting and set up in order to be ready for the contest on the 15th [of November]. We looked ready to the general public, but for us, we still had things to do. But the window is ready now and we are so happy that the community has received it with so much love. It is a joyful time."

The committee behind the window consisted of Betty Herring (Chair), Kim Edwards, Brenda Holcomb, Susan Howard, Eileen (Oda) Leaf, Martha Logan, Teresa White, Jan Fleming and Patricia Blakemore. And it was thanks to their efforts and other members, family members and friends who jumped in to provide assistance that the window came to fruition. In fact, the Neptunians all were so excited by the project that videos of its progress were made so members could follow all of the excitement virtually.

Said Blakemore, "We hope that in lieu of all the Christmas activities that have been canceled this year, that our Holiday Window gives a little Christmas joy to the community. It is our gift to them all and we are looking forward to many years to come with different themes. There is a survey on our website now for 2021 Holiday Window ideas [under "Holiday Window"]. The general public is encouraged to offer their suggestions. All ideas everything will be voted on by our members and board."

Here is a list of the contributors to the Neptunian Woman's Club's 2020 Holiday Window Display:

• Margaret Alvarez
• Bettelu Beverly
• Mary Sue Brubaker
• Jo-Ann Conlin
• Irene Cotter
• Karen Darling
• Heather de Roos
• Mary Dillon
• Michelle Erickson
• Jan Fleming
• Joyce Handschumacher
• Suzanne Karger
• Patricia Blakemore
• Robin Kirk
• Learned Lumber
• Patty Mahoney
• Jenny Olson
• Rose Osten
• Carla Petroff
• Riley Arts
• Ellen Rosenberg
• Donna Scholtz
• Miriam Shakter
• JoAnn Shaw
• Eric Swallow
• Pat Lucy
• Deana Wells – Rock, Paper, Scissors Boutique Salon
• Bill White
• Casey Willhardt
• Jake Willhardt