South Pasadena Tournament of Roses

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

On: April 29, 2019April 30, 2019 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 131^st 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

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 100^th anniversary of women’s suffrage will be honored by South Pasadena with “Victory at Last.” The victory was the ratification of the 19^th 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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Serving the community: 2018 Rose Parade floats from cities and volunteer organizations

On: July 27, 2018 By: LBM

The City of Alhambra celebrated its 90th Rose Parade float with “Story Time,” a salute to the Civic Center Library’s 110th birthday. The bookworm is reading “Tales from the Alhambra,” the source of the city’s name, to his insect buddies.

by Laura Berthold Monteros

Cities and service organizations, such as the ones in the gallery below, present the attractions of their communities and accomplishments of their organizations through the visual impact of Rose Parade floats. These entries brought both beauty and fun to the 129^th Tournament of Roses. Here’s the basic info on each; riders and flowering are in the captions. Be sure to check out the 2018 Rose Parade page for a listing of all the articles about floats on TheRoseExaminer.com.

Lions Clubs International, “Preserving Our Environment,” Phoenix Decorating Company, Michelle Lofthouse designer
South Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, “Booster Club,” Self-Built
City of Alhambra, Calif., “Story Time,” Phoenix Decorating Company, Mike Abboud designer
Kiwanis International, “Racing to Serve Children,” Phoenix Decorating Company, Michelle Lofthouse
City of Carson, “Honoring the Past – Envisioning Our Future,” Fiesta Parade Floats, Art Aguirre designer
Lutheran Laymen’s League, “Bringing Christ to the Nations,” Phoenix Decorating Company, Michelle Lofthouse

All photos are copyrighted. Contact administrator for permissions.

Lion Clubs International “Preserving Our Environment” depicts youth in LEOS planting and sprucing up a historic location. International President Naresh Aggarwal of Punjab, India and his wife Navita rode the float.

Roses, orchids, gerbera, iris, delphiniums, daffodils, Bells of Ireland, hyacinth, tulips, stock, and snapdragons—some specially grown for Phoenix Decorating Co.—made up the 10,360 flowers. Two live Noble firs stood on either side. The mill wheel rotated with real water.

South Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association is the oldest self-built float in the Rose Parade, going back 108 years. “Booster Club” honored folks who support student athletes. Note the license plate! The tiger is the mascot of SPHS and the ostrich harks back to the Cawston Ostrich Farm.

A roadster, covered with 40,000 red Paris roses pulled a trailer filled tailgate necessities. Flowers included 50,000 roses, 5,000 carnations, and 10,000 mums. The wheels on the car turned and smoke wafted from the grill.

The City of Alhambra celebrated its 90th Rose Parade float with “Story Time,” a salute to the Civic Center Library’s 110th birthday.

The 55,700 flowers on the Alhambra float included roses, mums, carnations, orchids, gerbera, iris, Bells of Ireland, snapdragons, freesia, calla lilies, lavender, amaranthus, hydrangea, and larkspur. The worms head turned from side to side and the ladybugs’ wings flapped.

The Kiwanis International float had a speedy tiger “Racing to Serve Children,” which illustrated the urgency Kiwanians have in making sure children have what they need to thrive and reach their full potential.

Real bikes were covered with dry materials to meet Tournament of Roses requirements, including black onion powder, ground rice, lentils, and white pepper, statice, and silverleaf.

The 89,874 flowers on the Kiwanis float included roses, carnations, mums, gladiola, and cymbidium. Kiwanians packed the stands to cheer on their champion racer.

“Honoring the Past—Envisioning Our Future” kicked off the 50th anniversary celebration of the City of Carson. The beads surrounding the treasure chest showed off city landmarks and organizations, Stub Hub Center, the world’s largest soccer-specific stadium in the US.

Floral sprays created the new Founder Fountain, located at city hall. Flowers included orchids, iris, and more than 20,000 coral Movie Star roses. Fireworks, both real and floral, burst out of the float. Carson is also home to the newest Goodyear blimp, “Wingfoot Two.”

Lutheran Hour Ministries “Bringing Christ to the Nations” chose a boat, an ancient symbol of the church, with map on the sail, to bring the Gospel message to the world. The float was decorated with 41,740 flowers, including roses, mums, carnations, calla lilies, and orchids.

Riders on the Lutheran Hour Ministries float were people who, like the Rose Parade theme, are “Making a Difference”—a comfort dog and handler, a Sunday School teacher and child, a leader of a food bank, a medical professional, and a Lutheran pastor.

Burgers and camaraderie at self-built float picnic

On: April 30, 2018 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.