Month: July 2018

Serving the community: 2018 Rose Parade floats from cities and volunteer organizations

On: 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 129th 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

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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.

Los Angeles entries in 2018 Rose Parade date back 120 years

On: By: LBM

The 375-member Los Angeles Unified School District All District High School Honor Band made its 46th appearance in the 129th Tournament of Roses Parade on Jan. 1, 2018.

 

by Laura Berthold Monteros

I will state my bias right up front. I am and always will be an Angeleno. I’ve lived in the Pasadena area for the past few decades, but my hometown is one of the many communities in the megalopolis that is LA. Thus, there is a bit of pride in seeing the longest-standing city entry—it goes back 120 years—rolling down the Tournament of Roses Parade route. The 2018 float was part of a cluster of entries representing Los Angeles. The theme of the 129th Tournament of Roses Parade was “Making a Difference.”

Salvation Army Tournament of Roses Band, based in Long Beach, represents the Greater Los Angeles area. The Salvation Army Church serves in 128 countries. The band invites guest Salvation Army bands from around the world to join them at the Rose Parade; this year, it was a band from Angola, dressed in traditional regalia. This marked the SA band’s 99th consecutive year in the Rose Parade. Kevin Larsson directs the LA band.

Los Angeles Police Department Metropolitan Division Mounted Platoon is committed to children in the Los Angeles area. Members volunteer time with kids in Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and with those who have lost parents in the line of duty. Some of these youngsters walked behind. The unit was joined by an LAPD Honor Guard and the LA Police Emerald Society Bagpipe & Drum Band. This was Chief Charlie Beck’s final Rose Parade appearance. He retired from the LAPD in June, 2018.

The Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board sponsors float for the City of Los Angeles. “Everyone Is Welcome,” designed by Mike Abboud for Fiesta Parade Floats, expresses the city’s love for and nurturing of one of the most diverse populations in the world. LA welcomes people of every race, culture, and gender identity, who fill the air with hundreds of different languages and the scents of scores of different cuisines in neighborhoods throughout the city.  At least 224 different languages are spoken by people from 140 countries.

Architecture ranges from the quirky lighted pylons at Los Angeles International Airport to the grandeur of the iconic Griffith Park Observatory, which the director calls “LA’s hood ornament” for its perch on Mt. Hollywood. Behind on the float is the Hollywood sign on Mt. Lee, with waving searchlights beckoning people to the city. Annually, LA hosts 47 million people. For flowering and riders, read the captions on the photos.

Los Angeles Unified School District All District High School Honor Band, directed by Tony White, represents the second largest school district in the county. The band was marking its 46th consecutive year in the Rose Parade. LAUSD educates children in neighboring cities, as well as in the City of LA, and the 375 members are drawn from all over the district. The unit reflects the great diversity of the area, both ethnically and economically. The students put in some 400 extra practice hours to be ready for the parade.

The band has five drum majors, 271 brass, 60 percussion, 14 banner carriers, and 30 color guard. Woodwind players in the district can try out for the Pasadena City College Tournament of Roses Honor Band. Assistant Directors and Unit Leaders are Art Duardo, Darnella Davidson, Veronica Gonzalez, Ariel Legaspi, Victoria Lopez, Ramon Mendez, Erick Quintanilla, and Marc Manriquez. Assistants and volunteers are Bladimir Castro, Scott Martin, Danny Barcenas, David Profeta, Kevin Cisneros, Kyle Kawahara, Luis Sanchez, Allan Valladares, Davier Arroyo, Grover Castro. Dose Gamboa, Doselyn Gonzalez, Christian Melgoza, Dose Nava, Amir Parvinian, Miguel Velasquez, and Ernie Sandoval.

 

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The Salvation Army Tournament of Roses Band keeps up a good pace to Christian marching hymns.
With beribboned timbrels, the women who lead of the Salvation Army unit are always a crowd-pleaser.
A guest band from Angola joined the Salvation Army Tournament of Roses Band for the 2018 Rose Parade.
Brass, drums, flags, and distinctive red and black uniforms mark the Salvation Army band.
Director Kevin Larsson leads a rank of trombones around the sharp corner from Orange Grove to Colorado.
The Los Angeles Police Department Metropolitan Division Mounted Platoon, Honor Guard, Bagpipe & Drum Band were followed by children from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in the 2018 Rose Parade.
Police Chief Charlie Beck leads the LAPD mounted platoon on a white horse.
Children who have been helped by Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and LAPD volunteers march behind the LAPD units.
Los Angeles Police Emerald Society (LAPES) Pipes and Drums wears the All Ireland Green tartan, which is registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans.
“Paper” airplanes wobbled and spun on the Los Angeles float. More than 6,000 hot pink roses created sculpted hedges inspired by the Getty Center maze, and 12,000 orange roses carpeted the deck.
Members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Los Angeles rode on the LA float. Floral arrangements included 1,000 stems of Bird of Paradise, the official flower of the City of Los Angeles.
Mayor Eric Garcetti on the Los Angeles float with a girl from the Boys & Girls Clubs. “I think kids and vets are the two things I do to make a difference,” Garcetti told KTLA, echoing the parade theme.
Six drum majors lead Los Angeles Unified School District All District High School Honor Band in the 2018 Rose Parade.
The 375-strong LA Unified honor band pulls the best high school musicians from all over the district to march in the Tournament of Roses Parade.
With almost perfect ranks, files, and diagonals, the LA Unified honor band rounds the corner to Colorado Blvd.
Los Angeles Unified School District All District High School Honor Band has 30 members in its color guard, both girls and boys.
The diversity of these students matches the diversity of LAUSD and the City of Los Angeles.

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

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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.