East Lyme – Not all the lights were on the floats, firetrucks or band instruments at the annual Niantic Light Parade Saturday, as shop owners, spectators and vendors eagerly took up the theme, transforming downtown into a colorful, blinking-light array of holiday spirit.

“Any light for $5!” novelty vendor Michael Place of Massachusetts shouted as he pushed a shopping cart up and down Main Street prior to the start of the parade, greeting spectators and helping customers make selections. Colorful plastic swords with blinking lights or magic wands topped with a flashing light star were popular items.

Place said he worked the event for a friend at New England Novelty and hadn’t been to the popular Niantic holiday showpiece in “many years.”

The parade, which started in 1988, has a reputation for creativity and extravagance of light. Spectators who braved Saturday evening’s bitter cold seemed to mostly ignore the chill to enjoy the event.

While most winter holiday parades keep Santa to the end to build up anticipation, the Niantic Light Parade placed him in an antique truck directly behind the parade’s lead off performers, the East Lyme High School band, their instruments bedecked with lights.

Several antique cars with signature “bawoooga” horns followed.

But then came a curious gap of several minutes without a float or band to be seen. No matter for this jovial crowd, as a group of spectators on the south side of Main Street filled the gap with Christmas carols.

Cheers arose when the parade resumed, and the Geico Insurance gecko waved from the sunroof of a small car, tossing hand-held paper fans to the crowd. Some questioned jokingly the need for such an accessory with temperatures in the 20s and dropping.

But those same spectators applauded the arrival of “the ice cream boat” from Old Lyme Ice Cream. The float bore a real rowboat filled with makeshift scoops of ice cream and cones, all outlined in lights of course.

Jack Wojcik, 9, and his sister Madelyn, 4, of East Lyme sported their flashing novelty light bling Saturday as they awaited the arrival of the Nativity Scene float, where their sister Kaylyn, 11, would portray either a Wise Man or an angel, depending on what was most needed, their mother Kim Wojcik said.

The Nativity Float, towed by a truck bearing the banner “Keep Christ in Christmas” was a hit of the show. A large camel rimmed with white lights stood watching the live actors portraying the Holy Family, angels, Wise Men and others. The stable was draped with white lights, and a giant star shone above it. More angels with glowing halos walked behind the float, which drew applause as it made its way along the parade route.

At the corner of Main Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, the East Lyme High School boys' cross country team had themselves a prime viewing location as the parade turned that corner. They claimed the spot at 4 p.m., two hours before the start of the parade.

But the athletes, parents and coaches had something else in mind. The table held a bake sale fundraiser for the Irwin family in Ledyard. Conor Irwin, a Ledyard High School freshman cross country runner, died Dec. 5, 10 days after suffering a serious head injury in a skateboarding accident.

The East Lyme team members didn’t know Irwin personally, junior Ryan McCauley said, but they read about his tragedy and the family’s need to raise money to cover funeral and other expenses. They wanted to help. The Shack restaurant donated pies, and families baked cookies, brownies and other treats for the bake sale. They couldn’t keep the hot chocolate pot filled fast enough for the demand Saturday, but customers expressed patience as they waited for the new pot to heat up.

“We’re making a lot of money,” freshman Will Bartlett said.

c.bessette@theday.com