Rose Parade 2010 part 1
For many people the arrival of the new year brings to mind the Rose Parade. I often watch the parade on television and in 2010 I had the opportunity to see the parade live. The parade is usually on New Year’s Day except when January 1st is on a Sunday were the parade takes place the next day. The non-profit Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association produces both the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl college football game.
While some people camp out overnight along the parade route to get the best viewing spots, the family and friends I went with to see the parade opted to get some sleep and go there at the crack of dawn. Our group picked a spot along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California and waited several hours for the parade. Finally we saw the group of police motorcycles which indicates the parade has made it to our location.
Every Rose Parade has a theme and on January 21, 2009 the new Tournament of Roses President Gary J. DiSano unveiled the theme for the next Rose Parade as 2010: A Cut Above the Rest. Most of the floats in the parade were inspired by this theme. Wells Fargo with supporting sponsor NAMM presented the 2010 Theme Float.
More of the 2010 Theme Float.
The Tournament of Roses President’s Car with the DiSano Family. However Gary J. DiSano passed away in September 2009 due to cancer and his duties were taken over by Jeffrey Throop.
The Lions Clubs International float. The floats are self-propelled on truck chassis. Floats start with a framework of steel and chicken wire. The float is then “cocooned” where it gets sprayed with polyvinyl material which acts as a base for inserting decoration. In the days leading up to the parade the float is covered with flowers and other plants.
Each year three civic and floral industry leaders evaluate the floats and award trophies in 24 categories. The judges for 2010 were Christine Knoke, a curator at the Pasadena Norton Simon Museum; Ann Daly, DreamWorks Animation chief operating officer; and Jim Coiner, owner and founder of Coiner Nursery. Donate Life got the Theme Trophy for excellence in presenting parade theme for their New Life Rises float.
The front of the Jack in the Box float. It is a rule of the parade that all surfaces of the float framework must be covered in natural materials. These include things like flowers, plants, bark, leaves, grasses, vegetables, seaweed, kelp, lentils, rice, berries, seeds, and nuts. Also no artificial flowers or plant material are allowed, nor can the materials be artificially colored.
And the rear of the Jack in the Box float.
Some flag waving women from Marian Catholic High School.
The Rain Bird Corporation float titled Mountaintop Majesty won the 2010 Sweepstakes Trophy. This trophy is for most beautiful entry with outstanding floral presentation and design.
More of the Rain Bird Corporation float.
These Pure Spanish Horses and Knights of the Realm are from the Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament.
Macy’s Queen’s Float. Each September young people between the ages of 17 to 21 interview for the honor of serving as a member of the Tournament of Roses Royal Court. One Rose Queen and six Rose Princesses are selected. Besides being in the parade they also preside over the Rose Bowl Game and throughout the year attend events in the Southern California area as ambassadors of the Tournament of Roses. The Rose Queen for 2010 was Natalie Innocenzi.
The Ronald McDonald House Charities Southern California float. For decorating the floats the non-perishable materials are done first. In the days following Christmas live additions to the float are applied. Delicate flowers are placed in vials of water and set into the float one-by-one. The Tournament of Roses is the largest consumer of flowers in the world, and flowers come from all over the world. Flowers used in floats include roses, orchids, chrysanthemums, carnations, irises, marigolds, strawflower and different types of blossoms.
The Mayor of Pasadena, Bill Bogaard.
A Wells Fargo stagecoach.
The two teams playing in the 2010 Rose Bowl were University of Oregon and Ohio State University. Ohio State won the game 26 to 17. This is the Ohio State University Rose Bowl Game float.
The Ohio State cheerleaders put a on show for the people in the bleachers across the street. That did not stop us from watching too.
Bayer Advanced got the Queen’s Trophy for most effective use and display of roses in concept, design and presentation for their We Are the Champions float.
This ends part 1 of this post. This post is continued in the Rose Parade 2010 part 2 post.
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