Huntington Boulevard’s historic role in Fresno will be in the spotlight Saturday morning as the neighborhood celebrates a longtime resident and supporter and prepares for the avenue’s planned return next year as Candlelight Lane at Christmas.

Organizer Paul Nuno said the neighborhood of historic homes — in its glory days Huntington housed some of Fresno’s most prominent movers and shakers — plans to be a Christmas visit destination again next year, with homes sporting holiday lights and decorations.

Saturday’s celebration will include burnishing with black and gold paint the historic streetlamps that line the grassy median where a streetcar line once ran, and also adding festive red bows and “halos” atop the streetlights, Nuno said.

Homeowners are planning to resume putting up lights and decorations on the grand old historic homes that in years past made Huntington Boulevard a draw for visitors during the holiday season, he said.

Boulevard’s Longtime Supporter Honored

Saturday’s ceremony will include honoring former resident Penny Raven, who will be acknowledged as the first honoree of the Larry J. Raven Spirit Award for the contributions she and her late husband Larry made to Huntington Boulevard over half a century, Nuno said.

City Council members and the mayor have been invited to attend the award ceremony, which will begin at 9 a.m., Nuno said.

Penny Raven, who was named the city of Fresno’s Woman of the Year in 2017 and who served for decades as president of the Huntington Boulevard Homeowners History Association, is also known for her bit part in Garry Marshall’s movie “Pretty Woman.”

Her family’s historic home on the boulevard went up for sale in 2022, two years after Larry Raven’s death.