South Pasadena does not have a float barn, and builds the float under the only concrete bridge designed by architects Charles and Henry Greene.
by Laura Berthold Monteros
Your Rose Examiner spent three consecutive days walking the float barns, and came back with tons of photos. For these galleries, I’ve chosen one of each float, shots I particularly like, just to give a flavor of the process and introduce readers to the floats that will glide along the Tournament of Roses Parade on Jan. 1, 2020.
The barns and decorating sites were pretty packed and the decorators were working furiously to get the dry dec on. I managed to fit in two conversations, one with Erik C. Andersen and Linda Cozakos at Burbank Tournament of Roses Association., and one with Harry Gill and Minu Singh at the Sikh American float in the Phoenix Decorating Company barn, which can be read here.
Photos in Gallery A were taken on Dec. 28 and 29, and include AES and five self-built floats (we didn’t go down to the Downey float barn). Gallery B was taken on Dec. 30 at Phoenix Decorating Company. Gallery C was also taken on Dec. 30, at Fiesta Parade Floats.
Deco Week Gallery A
Sierra Madre Rose Float Assn., La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Assn., AES, Cal Poly Universities, South Pasadena Rose Float Assn., Burbank Rose Float Assn.
Sierra Madre Rose Float Assn.
La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Assn.
A plethora of flowers ready to be put on the Rose Parade vehicles that will carry Tournament of Roses celebrities
University of Oregon cheerleader float (Wisconsin is similar, in red)
China Airlines
Pasadena Celebrates 2020
Blue Diamond Almonds
Amazon Studios
American Honda Motor Company
Cal Poly Universities
South Pasadena Rose Float Assn.
Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn. This is the first time Burbank has used fire on a float.
Deco Week Gallery B
Phoenix Decorating Company
City of Alhambra
The Cowboy Channel
City of Hope
Western Asset Management Company
Opening show mobile platform
Lutheran Laymen's League
Wescom Credit Union
Trader Joe's
Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
The SCAN Foundation
Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day
Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee
Lions Clubs International
Shriners Hospitals for Children
Kiwanis International
Tournament of Roses Royal Court
Odd Fellows and Rebekahs Rose Float
Sikh American Rose Float Assn.
Farmers Insurance
Deco Week Gallery C
Fiesta Parade Floats
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente
City of Torrance
Donate Life
Chinese American Heritage Foundation
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Underground Service Alert of Southern California (DIGALERT)
The Rose Examiner dropped in on the three float barns last Friday and Saturday to see the progress of the creations at the commercial builders and to talk to some of the folks doing the decorating. The 130th Tournament of Roses Parade happens on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019, so the decorators—almost all volunteers—were busy cutting statice, powdering rice, gluing on flowers, and filling vials.
Be sure to check out the gallery below to see the progress all those volunteers were making.
Making the rounds at Phoenix Decorating Company
Ryan Young with the Farmers Insurance float.
Our trip started off with a bang at Phoenix Decorating Company in Irwindale. We had just walked in the door when a sound like an I-beam hitting the floor split the air. Those cavernous float barns echo, so it turned out it wasn’t as bad as it sounded. There had been a small explosion under the Trader Joe’s float. The folks at Phoenix reacted immediately, with crew chiefs hurrying the decorators off the scaffolding and away from the float.
“Go back to your floats, go back to your floats!” the other volunteers were ordered. Everyone complied, because after all, those floats had to be covered with flowers in less than four days.
We asked a man who had been waiting to work on the Kiwanis float if it was scary. “It certainly was,” he said. Another man suggested that the sulphur-scented smoke we noticed might well be just dust and glue, and we returned to our tour of the floats
At the Farmers Insurance float, “A Carousel of Experience,” we met Ryan Young, a Philadelphia transplant. He’s only been in Pasadena for a few months, and already he was fully into the experience of decorating a float.
“I didn’t realize the scale,” he said, comparing the TV version and the real thing. “It’s neat to see it coming together.”
Young works in procurement for Farmers, which is a good match for his role on the float. He said his job is to be a runner, getting whatever anyone working on the float needs.
At the United Sikh Mission float, “A Divine Melody Resonates in All,” we ran into creative director Minu Singh, whom we spoke with last year. The float features a giant rabab, which she said was the first Sikh instrument. It was used by Guru Nanak to spread his message of the oneness of all though his poems and songs.
“Everything in our holy book is music,” Singh said. “Every time we congregate, it’s about singing.” She spoke of an “eternal cosmic symphony.” “Every bit of creation is part of the symphony,” she said.
A few blocks north at Fiesta Parade Floats
Tejinder and Simran cut statice for the United Sikh Mission float at Phoenix Decorating Company.
We got to Fiesta Parade Floats around lunch time, and most of the volunteers were up on the floats or scaffolds so we stuck to taking pictures. We did notice that there were a couple towering humans looking down from the decks, though.
Lono, the Hawaiian god of music and peace and the deity associated with the fertile lands of the Hawaiian Islands stands at the front of “Rhythms of Paradise,” the Dole Packaged Foods float. Stella Rosa lets the genie out of the (wine) bottle with “Taste of Magic.” (Others are on the American Armenian float at Phoenix and AES’ 24 Hour Fitness float.)
“Harmony Through Union,” the first entry from the Chinese American Heritage Foundation, doesn’t have a whole human, but it does have two spectacularly huge arms, one holding a mallet and the other a golden spike to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the historic meeting of the eastern and western portions of the Transcontinental Railroad in Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869, and to celebrate the contributions of immigrants.
Rosemont Pavilion
Denise Godfrey and Emma McGregor at the Cal Poly Universities float.
Previously used by Phoenix Decorating Company, Rosemont Pavilion now holds the AES floats for final decorating, as well as Cal Poly Universities and the FTD vehicle decorating. We were able to strike up a couple conversations at the floats. Check back after the Rose Parade for more about the four vehicles that will carry the celebrities in the parade.
At the Cal Poly float, “Far Out Frequencies,” we were given a California Grown sticker, which indicates that 85 percent of the floral material on the float was grown in California. Denise Godfrey was there with her daughter Emma McGregor. Their family business, Olive Hill Greenhouses, was founded by Godfrey’s parents in 1973. They have been supplying indoor plants to Cal Poly for about four years.
At the Chipotle Mexican Grill float, “Cultivate a Better World,” we found Russ Wimmer and Aida Bueno busily mixing spices to cover the float. And that is mostly what will cover the float. Wimmer told us that Chipotle insisted that only the 51 ingredients used at their restaurants can be used on the floats.
Red is created with a mixture of fresh chili pepper flakes and chili powder. The wood is brown rice instead of the usual paper bark, and juniper berries, oregano, lemon leaf, and corn husks are seen throughout the float. Baskets laid out around the deck like a vegetable stand will be filled with fresh produce. The only roses will be a red edging around the bottom and white spray roses tucked into a garland of red chili peppers. The Tournament of Roses granted a variance to allow a wheelchair lift at the back to remain uncovered.
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Clearing the space around the Trader Joe’s float (left) at Phoenix Decorating Company. The man with the red backpack is one of the Red Cross personnel on duty.
Brand new design for the Royal Court float at Phoenix Decorating Company.
Big buckets, small buckets, countless flowers at Phoenix.
Phoenix staff look into the driver’s compartment on the Trader Joe’s float to get a take on the explosion.
Painting the roses red at Phoenix.
It takes a certain fearlessness to glue on flowers while perched on scaffolding.
A Kiwanis volunteer grinds rice to a powder for the whites on the floats.
Honda is really promoting their new vehicles this year. Can you spot the one that is real?
Putting jewels in the queen’s crown at Phoenix.
Flower by flower, the side will be covered. All the flowers are natural colors, never dyed.
Powdered rice is scooped onto the sign for the Alhambra float.
First responders from the Red Cross told us, “We walk around [the barn], go back to our station outside, and walk around again.”
More giant humans on the American Armenian float, “Chanting Stones: Karahunj.”
United Sikh Mission “A Divine Melody Resonates in All” features a rabab that runs the length of the float.
At Fiesta Parade Floats, a volunteer works on the 90-foot-long Chinese American Heritage Foundation float, “Harmony Through Union.”
A genie rises from a wine bottle on Stella Rosa’s “Taste the Magic” at Fiesta.
Just because…What would a Dole float be without brilliant macaws?
A 20-foot-tall Hawaiian god, Lono, dances at the front of Dole’s “Rhythms of Paradise” at Fiesta.
The mallet to drive the Golden Spike on the Chinese American Heritage Foundation float.
The Golden Spike, ready for the hammer, on the Chinese American Heritage Foundation float.
Might not want to see this fellow in the backyard—unless he had called 811 first, of course! “Backyard Harmony” is sponsored by Underground Service Alert of Southern California (DIGALERT).
Over at Rosemont Pavilion, China Airlines “Rhythms of Taiwan” by AES promises drummers and dancers to bring excitement to the Rose Parade.
Volunteers putting on the chili pepper flakes mixed with chili powder to make the tractor red have to wear gloves to protect their skin. Chipotle Mexican Grill uses only ingredients that are served in their restaurants on “Cultivate a Better World,” built by AES.
Mixtures of spices and rice of various colors cover the wagon on “Cultivate a Better World,” sponsored by Chipotle Mexican Grill.
The overheight mechanism is down, so the scale of this giant runner from 24 Hour Fitness can’t be seen. “Tuned for Any Challenge” is built by AES.
This little green alien on “Far Out Frequencies” is getting a thorough checkup from Cal Poly students.
Billy buttons and pincushion protea make spiky otherworldly plants for “Far Out Frequencies,” built and decorated by Cal Poly Universities students.
Cal Poly Universities decorate “Dreams Take Flight” for the 2018 Rose Parade
by Laura Berthold Monteros
Deco Week used to a big deal in Pasadena, with two warehouses and a pop-up pavilion filled with floats and cars being decorated for the Rose Parade. The last five or six days before the Rose Parade, folks could drop into the float barns and see dozens of creations getting their final flowering as fresh materials were fastened to floats.
With the last Pasadena builder moving out of town in 2017, there isn’t much decorating left to see in the Crown City, but the Tournament of Roses and partners have gotten creative in providing plenty of things for locals and out-of-towners to see and do. There are two really new things going on this year.
AES, a powerhouse company that builds set pieces for Disney Resorts and other theme parks, produces Hollywood events, and of course designs and builds floats, is moving its floats from Azusa to Pasadena and parking them in Rosemont Pavilion for final flowering during Deco Week. (Phoenix Decorating Company, which used to build there, moved to shiny new headquarters in Irwindale last year.) FTD will again decorate the Rose Parade vehicles in Rosemont.
Rosemont Pavilion, located in the Arroyo just south of the Rose Bowl, is open for viewing from Dec. 28-31. Tickets are available for $15 on site or from Sharp Seating. Floats that will be in the barn are Universal – How to Train Your Dragon, Blue Diamond Almonds, China Airlines, Chipotle, 24 Hour Fitness, and Cal Poly Universities. Tournament vehicles are the Mayor’s fire truck and the President’s, Grand Marshal, and Hall of Fame cars.
The second thing is the brand-spanking new Sip & Savor event, produced by AES, on Jackie Robinson Memorial Field next to Rosemont Pavilion. It looks to be a pretty big event, with food, wine, craft beer, music, and six large-screen TV monitors for football fans. For $15, a person can see the floats and enjoy the entertainment at Sip & Savor. Taste tickets are extra; pricing and the growing list of culinary sponsors are on the website. Dates are Dec. 28-30, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Live on Green is returning to the Pasadena Convention Center Dec. 29-31 for the fourth year, and will have
Peter Samek, AIFD arranges floral material on a 1929 Packard. In the background is J. Keith White, AIFD CFD
plenty of activities for youngsters and grown-ups. Everything except the food and beverages is free for all. The 2018 schedule will be up on their site soon.
(opens in a new window)Farther afield, The Bloc Plaza in Downtown Los Angeles hosts the second annual Rose Bowl Bash. It’s a celebration of college football and the Rose Bowl Game at Hope and 7th Street. The event is free and includes family-friendly interactive games, Rose Bowl Game merchandise, a beer garden, entertainment, food trucks, and participation from team bands and cheer squads. The 7th Street Metro Center Station is on the corner, making it convenient to take the Metro instead of driving. Dates are Dec. 30, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Dec. 31, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Other events during Deco Week include Equestfest and Bandfest, which we have already posted.
“The Melody of Life” is the theme for the 2019 Tournament of Roses. The central events, the 130th Rose Parade and 105th Rose Bowl Game, are held on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019. Subscribe to “The Rose Examiner” to get news and articles throughout the year.