Post-Parade Float Viewing

"Comes The Morning After"
By Judy O'Sullivan
The second day of January. The kids plaintive cries, "There's nothing to do!" ring true. A brand new year. A let-down feeling. Too much heavy-duty partying, open houses and eggnog, TV watching: parades and games. How to jump-start yourself and family?
In Pasadena, California, one can always view the Rose Parade floats post-parade in their pleasant open-air purgatory at Sierra Madre and Washington Blvds., adjacent to Pasadena High School. These spectacular floral dinosaurs, having roared down Colorado Blvd. only yesterday in all their glory, pause here, before being hauled off to extinction at professional float graveyards in the surrounding area. Kind of sad when you think about it. Or maybe the sacrificial element adds to the appeal, sort of like appreciating the Christmas cactus which blooms only once a year.
Actually, it's an education to see these decorated mechanical wonders close-up and standing still. The public has been allowed this privilege since 1929 when floats parked in the plaza in front of Pasadena City Hall. The event proved so popular it was moved to Victory Park near the parade's end. By now, it's a well-organized affair: entertainment ranking right up there with Disneyland. One of those seeing is believing things.
Usually, there's someone around to explain the history of Rose Parade float building which everyone agrees gets better and better each year. The reason? Improvements in technology give float builders, designers, decorators mastery over their magical creations. Today, a typical float uses 60 million-petals--many from exotic flowers, barks and seeds. There's even high-tech pasting. But the big difference is animation. It has allowed the Rose Parade which started with decorated carriages to blossom into an entertainment spectacular.

Floats on pub;ic display

Animation happened in the 1960s. Float builder Bill Lofthouse of Bent Parade Floats says, "We got a letter from one of the networks that said, 'We would give you a lot more attention if you do something that moves'."
Professional float builders accepted the challenge. They started simply. A child in a float yanked pulleys and levers to flutter wings, wink eyes and wave hands. This stiff movement lacked naturalness.
Currently, hydraulics pivot float parts in many directions. Arms and legs swing slowly front and back, left and right. Heads don't just rotate, they nod, turn, bend. It's not unusual to find engines pumping hundreds of gallons of hydraulic fluid with computers issuing commands. This is technology at work. Veteran float builder Rick Chapman of Festival Artists has said, "With the advent of television, more is expected from a modern float. At one time, the static float that look good was enough, but now it must move and articulate."
Viewers delight in wandering among these petaled giants, taking photographs, and well, waking up and smelling the roses first hand. (Kids are discouraged from swiping a flower or two, but it happens.) Admission is $1 to this unusual public display. Parking is on surrounding streets with bus service available. The floats on view Jan. 2 may be "static" but they're still awesome. Very much something to do, kids. 30