Everybody’s young at Del’s Christmas snowstorm. But where was the song?

My friend John Drehner is in ebullient pre-Christmas spirits. “What do you get when you cross a centipede with a chicken?” he shouts, rubbing his hands against the chill. “Uh? Uh? More drumsticks. Bada-boom!” He receives the moans with aplomb. “I bet you’ve never heard the San Diego Christmas song. It was written by a guy here 30-plus years ago!” He doesn’t wait for requests. Now he’s singing straight out onto the street. 

It’s Christmas once again in San Diego

There is not a chance that it will snow

Palm trees are swaying in the warm breeze

Back East it’s 10 degrees below.”

“OK. Here’s the chorus.” 

It’s Christmas once again in San Diego

There is not a snowflake to be found

No sleigh rides with snowmen

Like you see on the Christmas card

Oh, but we’ve got a lot of Christmas in our heart.

Actually, John has a good, rounded voice. Relaxed, Bing Crosby-esque. Still, he says it’s not him we should be listening to. “It’s Barry de Vorzon, who wrote this. But the thing is, he originally wrote the song about Santa Barbara, not San Diego. ‘It’s Christmas once again in Santa Barbara.’ And one of his most popular versions turns the town name into San Francisco. There’s even one for Honolulu. Not a bad tune either. And you know what, it took me about fifteen minutes to learn the lyrics, and I have never forgotten them. I don’t know why the TV doesn’t play it.”

John Drehner strains his golden tonsils to sing classic SD Christmas song.

Barry de Vorzon has since become famous for writing movie and TV themes such as The Warriors, Exorcist III, S.W.A.T., on and on. And for developing land in San Diego County. 

And his song addresses history, too. 

Some people say it doesn’t seem like Christmas

You can’t look outside and see some snow

I don’t recall that it was snowing 

In Bethlehem 2000 years ago

But mostly, it’s playing the seasonal card. 

Trees are hung with lights and decorations

Families gathered by the fireside

This scene would make a perfect Christmas card

As long as you don’t look outside…

It’s Christmas once again in San Diego

There is not a snowflake to be found

No sleigh rides or snowmen 

Like you see in the Christmas cards

Oh, but we’ve got a lot of Christmas

We’ve got a lot of Christmas

We’ve got a lot of Christmas

In our hearts!

“That’s it folks!” says John. “Except..” Except, he says, the song got it wrong this time. “Head down to the Hotel Del around five. You’ll see what I mean.”  And wouldn’t you know, the man is right. Someone throws a switch and the lawn under the Norfolk Pines outside the Del is suddenly engulfed in snow. Gentle blowers make a beautiful, silent, instant blizzard. Old ladies’ eyes glisten. Kids’ faces open in awe. It’s one of those Disneyesque tricks that actually works. You can see people just standing, feeling the snowflakes on their faces, grinning like, well, kids. Guess ‘tis the season!