Sunday, January 01, 2006

Don't rain on my parade!

At 8 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 2, 2006, the 117th Annual Rose Parade will be in millions of homes around the world. For the 1st time since 1955, 2-4 inches of rain is expected. Let's hope the rain isn't too bad & that the show will go on! Have you ever wondered about all of the work that goes into one float? Or any of the behind-the-scenes details? With the help of Tournament of Roses website, I hope to answer a few of those questions for you.

It all started in 1890 when Californians who had moved from the East or Midwest, were so pleased to be blessed with blooming flowers instead of snow storms, they wanted to parade them around. Soon afterwards, marching bands, motorized floats and a number of other attractions were added. In 1902, the first ever post-season football game between Stanford & Michigan was played. Stanford lost 49-0, literally giving up in the 3rd quarter. As a result, they opted to try Roman-style chariot races. However, in 1916 football returned and this time it was for good.

This year's theme for the Rose Bowl Parade is, "It's Magical." The Grand Marshall will be Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. High School Senior, Camille Clark, will reign as this year's Rose Queen; she'll be wearing a crown valued at $100,000. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the parade is moved to Monday, in staying with old tradition which states, "Never on a Sunday."
This year, look for 12 year old Karie Guirguis riding atop the Ronald McDonald House float. Karie has undergone 6 operations for brain cancer and has been selected to ride the float appropriately titled, "Dreaming of the Future." I hope Karie has a magical 2006.
More than 80,000 human hours go into each year's parade, with 935 volunteers members of the Tournament of Roses Association. Approximately 50 marching bands apply for the 16 openings; they're chosen around 14 months in advance. Each year, 300 equestrians & riders also participate in the parade. There are also 3 vehicles in the parade. To view the list of this year's participants, click here.

Of the 48 participating floats, 24 will win an official award. The highest honor is The Sweepstake's Trophy & is awarded for the most beautiful entry. Last year's winner was "Playful pandemonium" sponsored by RainBird. The Tournament of Roses Judging Committee appoints a 3 member judging panel, consisting of civic and floral industry leaders. The floats are usually accepted more than a year prior to parade day and each float will consist of more floral material than a florist would use in 5 years.
The process of float-building begins shortly after the previous year's parade ends. The core of the float includes a specialty made chassis, chicken wire, steel and then sprayed with polyvinyl material that matches the colors of the flowers that will cover the float. Every inch of the float must be covered with flowers or natural material, ie: bark, leaves, etc. Some flowers are so delicate they're set in
a vial of water & added one by one. It is any wonder they call the Rose Bowl Parade "The Granddaddy of Them All"?
The parade, which lasts 2 1/2 hours long and stretches 5 1/2 miles long, will have approximately 800,000 viewers in attendance. While I did go one year as a teenager, we slept somewhere on the sidewalk (with thousands of others); I've graciously declined to watch another in person. The view is much, much better from my recliner.

I hope you all have a healthy & prosperous 2006!

If you'd like to view all the Rose Bowl game scores, click here.
Here's a list of the Rose Bowl Hall of Famers.
To take a look at the photo gallery, just click here.

Technorati tags: rose bowl, rose parade, tournament of roses, californians, stanford, michigan, flowers, supreme court justice sandra day o'connor, camille clark, rose queen, karie guirguis, volunteers, marching bands, equestrian, sweepstakes trophy, florist, new years, 2006

posted by jane at 2:10 PM