C&C Marine and Repair LLC, Belle Chasse, La., is celebrating the holidays with its third annual Christmas light display. This year’s Christmas decorations are prominently located near the company’s main office near New Orleans.
Once again, the theme of the Christmas display revolves around a boat built at C&C Marine, the Bering. The 200' offshore supply vessel is covered in Christmas lights and candy canes, while Santa and his elves go fishing off the boat for red snapper. The decorations also include the Grinch, two 22' Christmas trees, a 40' inflatable Santa, and reindeer led by Rudolph.
The theme for this year’s display has a special meaning for C&C Marine. Since 2021, the Bering has been used by C&C employees and customers for fishing, mainly red snapper, in the Gulf of Mexico. Over the past three years, the Bering has taken hundreds of C&C employees and customers on fishing trips to the Gulf of Mexico.
“The idea behind decorating C&C Marine during Christmas and the use of the m/v Bering as a fishing boat are both outcomes of the Covid pandemic,” C&C Marine’s owner Tony Cibilich said. “During the pandemic, we noticed that many of our employees and customers appeared deflated. To improve morale, I thought it would be good to take the people I work with most, both employees and customers, out to the Gulf of Mexico to fish red snapper. Most of C&C Marine’s employees and customers grew up fishing, so what better way for the company to express its appreciation than by giving them the fishing trip of a lifetime?
“Similarly,” Cibilich continued, “we began decorating for Christmas to spread holiday cheer for the entire C&C family and the surrounding community.”
“When discussing this year’s decorations, the idea was simple,” C&C project manager Ben Sasso said. “Everyone loves Christmas, and everyone loves to fish, so it only seemed natural to combine the two.”
C&C Marine designs and builds towboats, dredges, barges, offshore supply vessels, and other marine vessels.
