J. Keith White, AIFD CFD takes a photo opp in the 1919 Dodge Brothers car while waiting for Grand Marshal Gary Sinise to arrive.
The Tournament of Roses Parade brings to mind huge floral floats with costumed riders gliding along Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena. But the best way to ride in the 2018 Rose Parade may well have been in a vintage Packard with a bullet hole in the side. Or at least, it might be the most evocative! The vintage vehicles that the Tournament Entries Committee picks out for the president, grand marshal, mayor, and Hall of Fame inductees often have colorful histories, and sometimes mysterious ones. It’s a mystery how that bullet hole got there, but it’s fun to think about.
J. Keith White, AIFD CFD and Peter Samek, AIFD are tasked with decorating the cars every year. We enjoy stopping by to chat with the always-welcoming gentlemen and to get a look at the creative adornments. The floral designers carefully choose the colors to complement both the cars and the riders.
Fall colors for the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame inductees in a 1933 Lincoln and 1909 Pope-Hartford brought to mind crisp autumn fields and cheering crowds. Florals in white on the 1929 Packard spoke to the dignity of Pres. Lance Tibbet. The 1919 Dodge Brothers. that carried Grand Marshal Gary Sinise got several shades of purple that complemented the Pantone color of 2018, ultraviolet; read more about it here. Mayor Terry Tornek rode in 1924 Model TT jitney, decorated with baskets of florals and produce that recalled the bus’ first use as a produce truck.
The gallery with this article has photos of the vehicles in Rosemont Pavilion during deco week. Be sure to check out the captions for more on the flowering of the cars and some interesting facts. To see them in the parade, follow the links in the paragraphs above.
All photos are copyright 2017 by LB Monteros
Floral designer J. Keith White, AIFD CFD holds a stem of integrifolia at Rosemont Pavilion a few days before the 2018 Rose Parade. To his right are buckets of florals for the 1929 Packard.
Peter Samek, AIFD arranges floral material that includes Honey Bracelet greenery, garden roses, and decorative cabbages on the Packard, which carried by Pres. Lance Tibbet and family.
Mountings filled with floral foam are used to hold sprays of flowers. They are attached in a manner that doesn’t damage the cars.
Floral Designer White holds sprays of eucalyptus, which add interest and texture to arrangements. Choices for the vehicles, as for floats, are often unusual and surprising materials.
A day before the Rose Parade, the 1929 Packard is almost ready to roll. The car has a Standard Eight engine and right-hand drive to accommodate laws in Australia.
The back of the Packard is filled with sprays and garlands of white, green, and tan. A separate cowl and windshield to protect passengers in the rear seat from wind were part of the package.
With the Packard, solid steel disc wheels became standard, replacing spoked wheels.
Peter Samek pointed out a mysterious bullet hole just above the running board on the right side has been left unrepaired, perhaps to add interest and intrigue to the vintage Packard.
1919 Dodge Brothers car, owned by Keith and Marilyn Smith of Johnstown, Colo. Pods filled with floral foam are carefully strapped on to avoid scratches.
Floral designer J. Keith White chose ultraviolet, the 2018 Pantone color, and complementary shades of violet and pink for the Grand Marshal’s car. Here, hydrangeas, calla lilies, roses, and cabbage.
Flowers waiting to take a Rose Parade ride on the 1919 Dodge Brothers car.
Protea are hardy and add interest to arrangements. They are an ancient genus and have been around since the Cretaceous period.
An explosion of brilliant flowers in the vehicle area during Deco Week. Rose Parade floats use a lot of flower parts to cover the sculptures; the cars display full flowers in all their glory.
Bedecked with bouquets worthy of a movie star, this 1919 Dodge Brothers car carried Grand Marshal Gary Sinise down the 2018 Rose Parade route. It was driven by Jimmy Stewart in the 1947 movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Yellow ribbons on the rear and sides of the 1919 Dodge Brothers honor the veterans that Gary Sinise advocates for, and the work the owners do to raise fund for vets.
For more about this 1919 Dodge Brothers car, read “Grand Marshal Gary Sinise tries out his Rose Parade ride” on TheRoseExaminer.com
The variety of flowers and other floral material in hues from the entire spectrum bring liveliness to the vintage automobiles that carry Rose Parade personalities down Colorado Blvd. on New Year’s Day.
Hydrangeas, gerbera, carnations, and greens in all shapes and shades are some of the many varieties of botanicals chosen for the Rose Parade vehicles.
Green ball dianthus has such an otherworldly quality, it could be out of a “Star Trek” landscape.
FTD icons are attached to all the vehicles, and like everything in the Rose Parade, they are covered with botanicals—onion seed and strawflower in this case.
Like the FTD icons, the signs that attach to the doors of the car use onion seed and strawflower. This 1933 KA Lincoln V12 Dual Cowl carried Rose Bowl Hall of Fame inductees.
This 1933 Lincoln, owned by Howard Henkels, has been in Pasadena since it was sold by Millers Ford Lincoln Agency on Colorado and Orange Grove at the very intersection where TV cameras and media photographers and reporters bring the Rose Parade to you.
Far from being an eyesore, Howard Henkels boyhood home was a place where he and his siblings learned a valuable trade repairing and reselling Lincolns. This article chronicles his mother’s court case.
1909 Pope-Hartford Model S Toy Tonneau, also owned by Howard Henkels, in the beginning stages of flowering during Deco Week.
The 1909 Pope-Hartford carried Rose Bowl Hall of Fame inductees. The Tournament of Roses decided to use two cars instead of one to accommodate the football players.
The display on the front of the Pope-Hartford shows the beautiful fall colors chosen by designer J. Keith White for the Hall of Fame riders.
The Mayor of Pasadena, Terry Tornek, rode in a 1924 Model TT truck with his family and friends. It has served as a produce truck and a bus.
The jitney was decorated with baskets full of produce and flowers, a nod to its history. Owner Frank Dupuy transformed the produce truck into a bus when he bought it in 1949. He lived in Altadena with his wife Jo and a collection of antique trucks.
A key element in the Rose Parade is fun. The decorations on the 1924 Model TT combine florals and fruits in playful arrangements.
Marti Boone did a good portion of the decorating on the 1924 Model TT that carried Mayor Terry Tornek and his family. She said her brother, a lieutenant colonel, knew a vet who got a house through GM Gary Sinise.
All decked out for the Rose Parade with flowers and flags. A jitney was a privately owned conveyance, so called because the fare was a jitney, slang for a nickel.
Lemons hang from a basket on the 1928 Model TT jitney.
Limes strung on wire bring a note of fancy to the 1924 Model TT.
The four entries leading off the 2018 Tournament of Roses Parade on Jan. 1 formed a group tribute to veterans of United States military service: USMC Mounted Color Guard, USMC West Coast Composite Band, Grand Marshal Gary Sinise, and the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs float. The float, “Sacrifice to Serve,” was co-sponsored by the Military Order of the Purple Heart of the U.S.A., Inc. to honor recipients of the Purple Heart, which is awarded to service members who were injured in battle.
The color guard is a fixture at the front of the Rose Parade. Headquartered at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow, Calif., it is the last remaining US Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard. The Marines ride rescued wild mustangs, adopted through the Bureau of Land Management’s Adopt a Horse program. GySgt Carlton Esswein is the Staff NCO in charge of the unit; MCLB Barstow commanding officer is Col. Sekou Karega and the base sergeant major is SgtMaj Sergio MartinezRuiz.
Small but mighty, the USMC West Coast Composite Band plays the Marine’s Hymn and other march favorites. For 2018, the band was comprised of Marine Band San Diego, First Marine Division Band, and 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band led by drum major GySgt Hugh Wurts. CWO3 Christian Flores, Band Officer and MGySgt Brian Paradis, Bandmaster, direct the band. All band members are fully combat trained, and many have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Grand Marshal Gary Sinise has worked with veterans’ organizations for decades and established the Gary Sinise Foundation to better serve them. His work fits well with the parade theme “Making a Difference.” Sinise was thrilled to be chosen as the Rose Parade Grand Marshal, because he grew up watching the parade and realizes the honor and reach of this annual tradition.
The 1919 Dodge Brothers automobile that carried him and his wife, Moira Harris, was the car driven by Jimmy Stewart (himself a WWII veteran) in It’s a Wonderful Life and is used by owners Keith and Marilyn Smith to raise money for veteran groups. The movie was the holiday entertainment of choice for the family of Tournament of Roses Pres. Lance Tibbet, so the car is special to him, as well.
The Rose Examiner has posted several articles about Gary Sinise and the car:
“Sacrifice to Serve,” the 69th Rose Parade entry for Odd Fellows and Rebekahs Rose Float, Inc., won the Director Award for most outstanding artistic design and floral presentation. It was designed by Michelle Lofthouse and built by Phoenix Decorating Company. The float used 158,320 roses and other flowers, as well as a large variety of dry materials. Pampas and buffalo grasses, palm bark and palm bark fiber, and hand-cut corn husk feathers covered the imposing eagle. The purple heart at the front was created with dark blue iris, yellow and white mums, gold clover and flax seed, and fine-cut yellow strawflower. Floragraphs used onion powder, poppy seed, rice, ground split pea, strawflower, statice, walnut shell, and coffee.
All photos copyright 2018 by LB Monteros.
Col. Sekou Karega, MCLB Barstow CO and SgtMaj Sergio MartinezRuiz. base sergeant major, are flanked by two Marine officers.
USMC Mounted Color Guard, led by GySgt Carlton Esswein. The horses are rescued wild mustangs.
USMC West Coast Composite Band, comprised of Marine Band San Diego, First Marine Division Band, and 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band.
Drum Major GySgt Hugh Wurts leads the USMC West Coast Composite Band in the 2018 Rose Parade.
2018 Rose Parade Grand Marshal Gary Sinise and his wife Moira Harris ride in the 1919 Dodge Brothers car that was driven by Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Owner Keith Smith pilots his 1919 Dodge Brothers automobile along the Rose Parade route, carrying Grand Marshal Gary Sinise and his wife Moira Harris.
A passionate supporter of US veterans, Gary Sinise was the perfect Grand Marshal for the 128th Tournament of Roses Parade, “Making a Difference.”
“Sacrifice to Serve” honored men and women who have been awarded the Purple Heart medal for wounds sustained in battle. Float sponsors were Odd Fellows and Rebekahs, and the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
“Sacrifice to Serve” in the decorating stage a few days prior to the Rose Parade. Two volunteers frame a strip of floragraphs. The floragraph at left is Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, who lost both her legs in the Iraq War.
Riders on the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs float were Neil Van Ness and Jim Anderson of MOPH; Purple Heart recipients Sonya Broadway, Norman Sumner, Bob Laizure, Ronald Hanson, and two from Odd Fellows and Rebekahs; John Bircher, John A. Miller, Sr., Linda Thompson, Estella Crowder, and Dave Reed, IOOF/Rebekahs; Jasny Watson, youth representative.
Riders on the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs float were Neil Van Ness and Jim Anderson of MOPH; Purple Heart recipients Sonya Broadway, Norman Sumner, Bob Laizure, Ronald Hanson, and two from Odd Fellows and Rebekahs; John Bircher, John A. Miller, Sr., Linda Thompson, Estella Crowder, and Dave Reed, IOOF/Rebekahs; Jasny Watson, youth representative.
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.
We were tipped off that the three Grand Marshals and their families would be at the car decorating tent on Saturday to sit in the classic automobiles that will drive them down Colorado Blvd. in the 128th Tournament of Roses Parade. The parade is held on Monday, Jan. 2, 2017 because of the “Never on Sunday” rule. Olympians Janet Evans, Greg Louganis, and Allison Felix climbed into the cars with huge grins on their faces. Be sure to take a look at the photos below.
FTD floral designer J. Keith White, AIFD CFD, has decorated the vehicles used in the parade for a dozen years. He chooses colors and floral materials that complement the color and design of the cars. Or buses, trolleys, and mule team wagons that he is called on to beautify for the Rose Parade. None of the three Grand Marshal cars—a 1915 Pierce Arrow for Evans, a 1937 Bentley for Louganis, and a 1911 Pope-Hartford for Felix—has been in the Rose Parade before. All will be driven by their owners, and White made sure that each one has the Olympic rings on the front.
2017 Grand Marshal Janet Evans poses with husband Bill Willson and children Jake and Sydney in a seven passenger 1915 Pierce Arrow Phaeton.
All decked out for the 2017 Rose Parade, the 1915 Pierce Arrow Phaeton is owned by Joe and Janice Conzonire. Joe’s brother Corky was president of the Tournament of Roses for the 2009 celebration.
2017 Grand Marshal Greg Louganis, left, and husband Johnny Chaillot will ride in a gorgeous 1937 Bentley 4 ¼ liter.
The 1937 Bentley was often called the Derby Bentley, because it was built in the Rolls Royce plant in Derby, England. It’s owned by Barry G. Hon.
We got this shot the day before the Grand Marshals arrived. Pete Samek, a FTD designer places floral materials on the Bentley.
2017 Grand Marshal Allyson Felix stands by her ride, a 1911 Pope-Hartford, Model W, Pony Tonneau.
The 1911 Pope-Hartford, Model W, Pony Tonneau is owned by Ted Bowers, who drove it over 100,000 miles after purchasing it in 1946. He fully restored the car in 1982.
An arrangement of white and yellow roses, sunflowers, calla lilies, and yes, heads of cabbage nestles in a spare tire on the 1911 Pope-Hartford.
