Retired 6abc anchor Jim Gardner will leave his Villanova home on July 29 to travel to Ocean City, New Jersey. That evening, according to a 6abc report, he will become the grand marshal at the beach town’s 2023 Night in Venice boat parade.

Gardner will oversee a flotilla of decorated boats, rafts, and other seaworthy transports floating by decorated houses (and throngs of parade watchers) the on the east side of the barrier island.

The crafts and their crews will be decorated with various interpretations of the theme, “It’s a Philly Thing,” commemorating Philadelphia’s multifaceted appeal.

According to a July 2019 OCNJ Daily article by Maddy Vitale, the annual Night in Venice celebration started in 1907

Ocean City historian Fred Miller told the paper that the original incarnation was primarily bay-side homes lit by lights and torches.

Its current version — where the decorations shift to themed boats and costumed crews — arrived in 1954. It was the brainchild of Ocean City Beach Patrol Captain Jack Jernee, who recalled the event from the 1920s and thought it was worth resurrecting.

Despite its variations over the decades, one steady component is a fireworks finale, a spectacle that will continue with the 2023 Night in Venice.

More information is at 6abc.