Tag: Cal Poly Universities

Rose Parade floats, food, and friendship at annual self-built potluck

On: By: LBM

Photo: Sierra Madre float barn displays name signs from award-winning floats

Updated April 30, 2019 to add Sierra Madre Rose Float Association

by Laura Berthold Monteros

When the six self-built float organizations meet for the annual get-together and potluck, the talk isn’t of beating the others out for Rose Parade trophies. It’s a time to reveal designs for floats in the upcoming Rose Parade that have been approved by the Tournament of Roses, as well as a place for camaraderie among a rare breed of peopl who still build their own flower-covered floats to represent their communities. Ideas, techniques, and food—plenty of it and all delicious—are shared.

The Rose Examiner attended last Saturday’s event, hosted by Sierra Madre Rose Float Association in their float barn in Sierra Vista Park. All six associations had representatives there: Burbank Tournament of Roses Association, Cal Poly Universities Rose Float, Downey Rose Float Association, La Cañada Flintridge Rose Float Association, South Pasadena Rose Float Association, and of course Sierra Madre. The Cal Poly team was represented by alumni, because it was the weekend for students from both Pomona and San Luis Obispo to get together and plan for the parade.

The theme for the 131st Tournament of Roses is “The Power of Hope.” Each float entry must reflect that in some way. The designs, chosen from among scores of submissions, are presented to the Tournament of Roses for approval on theme draft day in February.

La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses 2020 “Dodo Bird Flight School." L-R Sara Wickersham, Ernest Koeppen, Janis Peterson
Downey Rose Float 2020 “Wings of Hope”
Burbank Tournament of Roses 2020 “Rise Up”
South Pasadena Tournament of Roses 2020 “Victory at Last”
Sierra Madre Rose Float 2020 “Ka La Hiki Ola” (The Dawning of a New Day). Ignore the 2019 in the sign!

Self-built floats are usually humorous, though Downey often creates scenes simply for the beauty, such as 2016’s “Exploring the Everglades.” The 2020 float, “Wings of Hope,” features orgami cranes flying over a Japanese garden. The concept was inspired by a project at East Middle School that, like the students in Sadako and the Thousand Cranes, had a goal of folding 1,000 paper cranes to be given to patients at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Burbank also has a more serious theme this year. “Rise Up” depicts a phoenix rising from the ashes, a reminder of the fires that tore through areas of Northern California last year. President Ginny Barnett said she had friends in the almost completely destroyed city of Paradise. The phoenix represents the hope those caught up in the fires have for the future. She said this design is unusual for a Burbank float, which is usually about fun.

The 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage will be honored by South Pasadena with “Victory at Last.” The victory was the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920. A gigantic straw hat decorated with feathers, flowers, and a campaign button dominates the float in a star-spangled celebration of a watershed event in American history.

“We’re trying to be as non-political as possible,” the presenter said. The Rose Examiner hopes that votes for women is no longer a political issue!

La Cañada Flintridge, whose floats are always highly animated, went to the birds with “Dodo Bird Flight School.” Penguins and an emu are also enrolled, but it’s doubtful they will have much success launching off the giant blimp. The emu, strapped to a da Vinci screw on a satellite float, may have the best shot.

Sierra Madre had a model of their float, “Ka La Hiki Ola” (The Dawning of a New Day) on display and will produce the rendering later. There will be a waterfall at the rear, and lots of tikis, and birds rising off the float.

The design draft for Cal Poly Universities was not yet ready, but we look forward to seeing it in the future. Visit All Things Rose Parade on Facebook to get updates on the Tournament of Roses.

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Floral Design award winners in the 2018 Rose Parade

On: By: LBM

City of Hope has been transforming the future of health since 1913, through research, prevention, and treatment. The float depicts one of the Wishing Trees on campus, with notes of hope fluttering from the branches. It won the coveted Isabella Coleman Award.

 

by Laura Berthold Monteros

Since the foundation of the Tournament of Roses Parade is flower-covered floats, it may seem odd that in the new system of float awards there is a specific category for Floral Design. The floats that take home awards in this category display the most effective, beautiful, creative, and bountiful use of fresh botanical materials. One of the most prestigious awards, the Isabella Coleman, is in this category.

The winners in the 2018 Rose Parade are listed in the table below, and descriptions of flowering and animation are in the captions in the photo gallery. It’s a large gallery, but the floats are well worth the clicks.

Some interesting notes on a few of the floats:

City of Hope rider Daniel Bliley began donating platelets on his 18th birthday in memory of his mother, who died of leukemia when Daniel was 8. Fifteen years later, he has donated 200 times. Read more about this young man on the City of Hope website.

United Sikh Mission is a Southern California nonprofit founded by Rashpal Singh in 2006 to benefit the poor in rural Punjab. One of the major efforts is providing eye clinics. The dedication to service is foundational to Sikhism, which can be seen in this depiction of the Golden Temple kitchen (langar) which feeds 100,000 people a day. The Leishman Public Spirit Award, the organization’s first, is well-deserved.

A sapling from one of Hiroshima’s A-bomb survivor trees was on the Rotary float and slated to be planted in one Rotary’s Peace Gardens.

More than 97 percent of the flowers on the Cal Poly Universities float were grown in the State of California, which garnered them California Grown certification for the seventh year; the only Rose Parade float to do so. Masses of fresh flowers included 10,000 roses, 10,000 gerbera, 12,000 chrysanthemums, 12,000 button and cushion mums, and 1,000 irises.

Taiwan-based China Airlines signed the United for Wildlife Transport Taskforce Buckingham Palace Declaration in 2017. The airline has pledged to not transport illegal wildlife and related products.

 

2018 FLORAL DESIGN CATEGORY
Award Sponsor “Theme” Builder, Designer
President Award for most outstanding use and presentation of flowers Western Asset Management Company “Oceans of Possibility” Phoenix Decorating Company, Michelle Lofthouse
Isabella Coleman Award for most outstanding presentation of color harmony through floral design City of Hope “Transforming Lives with Hope” Phoenix Decorating Company, Michelle Lofthouse
Queen Award for most outstanding presentation of roses Downey Rose Float Association “Working Together” Self Built, Jeff Shadic, Jason Redfox, Thom Neighbors
Leishman Public Spirit Award for most outstanding floral design and display from a non-commercial participant United Sikh Mission “Serving Kindness” Phoenix Decorating Company, Michelle Lofthouse
Princess Award for most floral display among entries 35 feet and under in length Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee “Planting the Seeds of Service” Phoenix Decorating Company, Michelle Lofthouse
Past President Award for most outstanding innovation in the use of floral and non-floral materials Cal Poly Universities “Dreams Take Flight” Self Built, N/A
Founder Award for most outstanding floral display built and decorated by volunteers from a community or organization Burbank Tournament of Roses Association “Sand-Sational Helpers” Self Built, Catherine Glandeon, Fred Fraleigh
International Award for most outstanding floral display among floats from outside the United States China Airlines “Caring for Our Sea” Artistic Entertainment Services, John Ramirez
Tournament Volunteer Award for most outstanding floral display of the rose parade theme among floats 35 feet and under in length Shriners Hospitals for Children “Caring for Kids Around the World” Phoenix Decorating Company, Cynthia McMinimy

All photos are copyrighted. Contact administrator for permissions.

A SCUBA diver explores kelp forests and a coral reef in the waters surrounding Taiwan on the China Airlines float. The heads on the turtles turn, and a bubble machine adds to the undersea feel.
The China Airlines float was almost entirely covered in dry materials, including statice, onion and poppy seed, palm fiber, strawflower, lentils, and split peas. Fresh materials included 5,000 orange, pink, and yellow roses, orchids, fruit, and foliage.
Day transitions into night from front to back, as Paula the Koala, Ollie the Otter, and Rusty the Red Panda fly through LED-lit clouds on the Cal Poly Universities float. Animal heads turn, propellers and pinwheels rotate, and the Cal Poly letters bob up and down.
The front and rear planes on the Cal Poly float roll side to side and feature a complete set of control surfaces (flaps, rudders, ailerons, elevators), and the front of the pod under the plane bobs and rolls.
Humpback whales follow a pair of cavorting dolphins through an underseascape bursting with hundreds of shades of floral, dry, and fresh materials. The turtle moves its head and fins as real bubbles float around it. The design was selected by Western Asset employees.
49,200 fresh flowers were used on the Western Asset float, including roses, anthurium, protea, cabbage kale, ferns, eremurus, orchids, Leucadendron, kangaroo paw. Thousands of kumquats and 100,000 each of raisins and cranberries created the octopus at the rear.
A canopy of gorgeous flowers creates a City of Hope Wishing Tree, complete with tags bearing handwritten wishes. City of Hope is one of the foremost comprehensive cancer centers in the country, leading in research, prevention, and treatment of cancer and other diseases.
Riders on the City of Hope float: Dodger Enrique "Kike" Hernandez, former Dodgers GM & VP Fred Claire, platelet donor Daniel Bliley, cancer survivors Cory Norton, Rosemary Estrada, Chad Bible, Nicole Allen, Becky Velazquez-Mclntyre, Elizabeth Jenkins, Gary Lorenzini, and Jackie Solano
This fluffy grass and cotton bunny waiting for peaches to ripen is “a symbol of the watchful gaze of Rotarians” throughout the world. The jacket is red, yellow, and white mums with cranberries and blueberries.
White suiters are a friendly bunch! A Rotary outwalker greets a Tournament volunteer as the float rounds the corner. 53,300 fresh flowers decorated the float, with roses in white and various shades of pink covering the deck.
In his sixth Rose Parade appearance, Shriner astronaut Fezzy watches over a spinning earth amid planets and a space station. The 372,250 fresh flowers include roses (including Black Magic, specially grown for Phoenix), whole carnations, anthurium, protea, and heliconia.
Riders: Imperial Potentate Gary Bergenske & wife Anne; trustee Peter Diaz & wife Vicky; patient ambassadors, Alec Cabacungan, Emily Mellish, Isabella Rose, and Kechi Okwuchi. The float celebrates the opening of the Shriners for Children Medical Center outpatient facility in Pasadena.
The Downey Rose Float Association gathered about 10,000 roses, 3,000 orchids, and 2,500 gerbera in pinks, oranges, and yellows to create the arrangements and carpet on their float. The lattice globe rotated.
Miss Downey Guile Ledesma was front and center in white, accompanied by princesses Gessica Manteca, Connie Martinez, Samantha Meza, and Katherene Santana. Downey chooses princesses in various age groups, from young adult to very young girls.
The man with the camera walking in front of the United Sikh Mission float was hanging out near the press stands before the parade, looking so happy and excited, we thought he belonged in this photo.
Pots are filled with real vegetables, including squash, broccoli, and bell peppers. The leaf plates are larger replicas of the thousands of plates that are handcrafted daily for the Golden Temple langar. 90,959 fresh flowers were used on the float.
Real bread sits on the griddle, and baskets behind are filled with various colors of potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, and squash. Flowers include roses, orchids, carnations, iris, eremurus, gladiola, and stock. Lemon branches and yellow apples stand in for a jujube tree.
Sea creatures and birds pick up trash and recycling on the beach on the Burbank Tournament of Roses Association float. Can you spot the seagull with the bikini top? Animation: undulating waves, bobbing fish, rotating heads and moving tentacles, a flying seagull, rocking otter.
The florals on the Burbank float have a wonderful, beachy way of spilling over, like the iris waves and sandy roses. There were 10,400 roses 11,000 iris stems, more than 10,000 mums, and amaranthus, orchids, carnations, poinsettias, marigolds, and succulents.

Burgers and camaraderie at self-built float picnic

On: By: LBM

Cal Poly Pomona 2019 float team, L-R: Elizabeth Meyer, Nathan Muro, Stephanie Ferreya, Hana Haideri, Caitlin Yaneza, Wolfgang Breitenbach

by Laura Berthold Monteros

One might think that there would be a good deal of competition among the associations that build their own floats for the Tournament of Roses Parade. Indeed there is, but it’s all good-natured. Once a year, they get together for a picnic or potluck at one of the float sites to reveal the designs for the upcoming parade, talk shop, and share information. Your Rose Examiner dropped by the South Pasadena Tournament of Roses Assn. build site on Saturday to chat with some of the folks and glimpse the design sketches for the 2019 parade.

The floats will end up looking a good deal like the sketches, but there will be tweaks along the way, some by the builders as they work on structural and floral elements and some from the TOR Float Committee. With the theme being “The Melody of Life,” there’s an emphasis on incorporating musical elements in each entry. In the case of Sierra Madre Rose Float Assn., acceptance of the design was contingent on adding an instrument to the float. The team added a koto player to “Harmony’s Garden,” a depiction of the Japanese Garden on the grounds of Sierra Madre Elementary School.

Check out the photos below!

Five of the six self-built associations were at the picnic—SPTOR, Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn., La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Assn., SMRFA, and Cal Poly Pomona—which form a sort of necklace along the foothills. The remaining builder is Downey Rose Float Assn., which is further south. San Luis Obispo, the northern half of the Cal Poly Universities Rose Float, gets together with the Pomona when it rolls down in October.

We met Janetta Mcdowell, the Cal Poly Pomona Rose Float Director, and spoke with six of the students who are on the team this year. Despite all the hours they put in, they get no academic credit. “It’s a club, not a class,” they said. During crunch time towards the end of the year, they will be joined by other volunteers. Here’s a little about the students in the photo above.

  • Elizabeth Meyer is working on the float for her second year, last year as a volunteer and this year as a team member. She works on the hydraulics, a messy job but one that is redolent with the scents of childhood spent with her mechanical grandfather. She’s studying mechanical engineering and working on the float is her senior project.
  • Nathan Muro volunteered for a year before joining the float team two years ago. He is the design committee chair and is majoring in electrical engineering.
  • Stephanie Ferreya is an assistant chair of the design committee and is in her second year on the float. She majors in biology.
  • Hana Haideri is an electrical engineering major; this is her second year on the float team after volunteering for a year.
  • Caitlin Yaneza works on the electronics on the float as part of the construction team. This is her second year on the team. She is a psychology major.
  • Wolfgang Breitenbach is on the team for the first year. His choice was the deco committee, which handles the floral design. His major is manufacturing engineering, which he simplified for us by saying that it about automation and assembly lines.

Cal Poly Universities are known for engineering and agriculture, so we asked if anyone was an agriculture major. The head of the decorating committee, which is in charge of ensuring that floral and botanical choices are made, fulfilled, and get on the float, is an ag major, we were told.

The all-volunteer associations are very proud that they give the professional builders a run for their money. One of the Burbank volunteers noted that the only trophy designated for self-builts is the Founder Award, but in recent years, self-builts have frequently taken four or five trophies overall. In 2016, all six groups won awards. For long-time Rose Parade aficionados, the self-builts are the heart of the parade. It will be exciting to see how they fare in 2019.

“Three Little Birds” balance on a guitar in South Pasadena’s entry at the self-built picnic. Below the easel is a piñata in the logo of the Tournament of Roses.
Float designs are perched under the bridge that is part of the South Pasadena float site. From left, Burbank’s animal swamp band, Cal Poly’s astronauts, Sierra Madre’s “Harmony’s Garden,” and La Cañada Flintridge’s “Tree Frog Night,” with an amphibian string band.
Nathan Muro holds the sketch of the 2019 Cal Poly float, which shows astronauts rocking out with aliens. There is no name yet.
This little turtle greeted folks at the self-built picnic. He was a spinner on the 2017 South Pasadena float.

Conversations in the Rose Parade float barns

On: By: LBM

by Laura Berthold Monteros

We dropped into a couple float barns this week to get a look at the floats in their final stages. First was the new spacious and bright headquarters of Phoenix Decorating Company in Irwindale. Man-of-many-hats Chuck Hayes introduced us to assistant volunteer coordinator Jay DeCastro, who has worked for float companies since 1986, and Maryann Griffin who told us she “absolutely loves” being around people and ensuring they are welcome.

The next day, we went to Rosemont Pavilion in Pasadena, which has been used by many float builders over the years. This year, Paradiso Parade Floats and Cal Poly Universities drove their entries from the far east San Gabriel Valley to finish up the floral on their floats. The cars that will carry the dignitaries are being decorated there, too; more on that to come.

In the Phoenix Decorating Company barn

Laura Farber

Laura Farber, who will have her turn as president of the Tournament of Roses in 2020 greeted us by the Theme Banner float. Asked if she was preparing for the 131st Rose Parade, she said, “Yeah. That’s what we do!” She has her theme (big secret) and has a list of potential Grand Marshals (bigger secret). “We have an eight-year build-up,” she said, referring to the Tournament’s executive committee ladder, from vice president to secretary, treasurer, executive vice president, and finally president.

“The last four years go by super quickly,” she said, adding that she’s getting ready early because she is an “excessive planner.” She said it will be fun to do the job from a different perspective as the third woman president and first Latina.

“We’re trying to expand outreach to the global community…. We’re talking to people Continue reading “Conversations in the Rose Parade float barns” →

Self-builders share picnic goodies and 2018 float renderings

On: By: LBM

At the annual Self-Built Floats picnic on May 6, 2017, folks huddled under canopies to nosh on burgers and potluck.

by Laura Berthold Monteros

Self-Built float associations may compete for trophies in the Tournament of Roses Parade, but there is a lot of camaraderie and mutual aid among the volunteers and students who build the entries. Of the 40 to 45 flower-covered floats, all but six are built by professional float companies. The six associations take turns hosting an annual potluck get-together to display the renderings and share stories. The Rose Examiner was honored to attend today’s event, in anticipation of the 129th Rose Parade to be held on Jan. 1, 2018.

La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association hosted barbecue at Los Angeles County Fire Camp 2, a training facility tucked between the Jet Propulsion Lab and Hahamongna Watershed Park. Tables were filled with potluck sides and desserts while LCFTRA volunteers grilled burgers and hot dogs. A fragrant log fire warmed our hands in the steady rain. It was the end of a typical spring week in Southern California, which saw sunny 90-degree-plus days in the first half of the week drop to 60 degrees for the weekend.

Ginny Barnett, president of Burbank Tournament of Roses Association, shows the sketch of their 2018 Rose Parade entry and describes the animation.
Kay Sappington of Sierra Madre Rose Float Association holds up the sketch of a darling dragon which will appear in the 2018 Rose Parade.
Cal Poly Universities in San Luis Obispo and Pomona build their float in two parts that are attached together in October. The students put in hard work, but have a lot of fun.
Chuck Terhune, president La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association for 2018, talks about “Panda-monium” at the annual Self-Built float picnic.
There’s nothing like a crackling log fire to make a rainy day feel cozy. Los Angeles County Fire Camp 2 was the location for the annual Self-Built get-together and potluck.
What’s a little rain, when there are canopies, a fire pit, and a nice flat lawn? The annual Self-Built float picnic was held at Los Angeles Fire Camp 2, which is nestled in the Arroyo Seco just below JPL.

The six self-builders are Burbank Tournament of Roses Association, Cal Poly Universities, Downey Rose Float Association, La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association, Sierra Madre Rose Float Association, and South Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. DRFA and SPTORA were unable to make picnic, but we have photos of the rest.

California Grown celebrates the Golden State in the Rose Parade

On: By: LBM

by Laura Berthold Monteros

It was 2011 when we first wrote about the California Grown credential awarded by the California Cut Flower Commission (CCFC). The California Clock Company contacted us about their 2012 Rose Parade float celebrating their 80th anniversary and their most famous product, the ubiquitous Kit-Cat clock. They insisted on floral materials that were grown in California, and along with Cal Poly Universities, achieved California Grown status. In order to be certified, 85 percent of the floral materials on an entry must be grown in the Golden State.

By 2017, three floats and the Tournament of Roses vehicles carrying Rose Parade honorees, received certification, despite the years-long drought that plagued California agriculture until early 2017. The floats were Miracle-Gro “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” Cal Poly Universities “A New Leaf,” and California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) “Legacy of Generations.” We were able to attend the ceremonies at Fiesta Parade Floats for Miracle-Gro and CMAB, but there are photos of all the honorees below, along with links to more extensive articles on the Tournament of Roses entries.

At the ceremony on Jan. 1, 2017 at Fiesta, Karen Ross, Secretary of the California Continue reading “California Grown celebrates the Golden State in the Rose Parade” →