- Title: USA-ROSE PARADE PREPS Rose parade floats are in full bloom for the annual event.
- Date: 31st December 2014
- Summary: IRWINDALE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 29, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VOLUNTEER PUTTING GLUE ON ROSES WIDE SHOT OF FLOAT CONSTRUCTION AND DECORATION WAREHOUSE VOLUNTEERS PUSHING CART WITH RED ROSES VOLUNTEERS WALKING PAST FLOWER DISPLAYS DOLE PACKAGED FOOD, TIM ESTES, PRESIDENT OF FIESTA PARADE FLOATS SPEAKING TO REPORTERS TIM ESTES, PRESIDENT OF FIESTA PARADE FLOATS SPEAKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) TIM ESTES, PRESIDENT OF FIESTA PARADE FLOATS SAYING: "Every float uses tens of thousands of flowers on it, on every float. We easily have well over a million flowers that we've brought in here and processed to go on these 11 floats that we're doing and the average float takes about 100 gallons of glue because we use five different types of glue that we use to affix the flowers onto the float. Then you have the gasoline and engines, the tires, the wheels, the animation system, there's a lot that happens that goes underneath the float so it's quite unique." SAHID KHAN AND BROTHER ALHAJE KHAN, SIBLINGS OF DR. SHEIK HUMARR KHAN, STANDING BY THE AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION FLOAT GOLDEN GLOBE FEATURED ON THE AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION FLOAT (SOUNDBITE) (English) SAHID KHAN, BROTHER OF LATE DR. SHEIK HUMARR KHAN, SAYING: "The fact that the AIDS Healthcare Foundation is honoring him and all the frontline healthcare workers that have lost their lives, it's an inspiring story to the whole world. So they will be aware AIDS and Ebola are still killing people in Africa." VARIOUS OF CITY OF TORRANCE FLOAT "A RACE WELL RUN" AND VOLUNTEERS WORKING ON FLOAT (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROSEANNE VILLALLOBOS, PRESIDENT OF TORRANCE ROSE FLOAT ASSOCIATION, SAYING: "His track shoes, a lot of his medals, we are lucky enough to have the Grand Marshall ribbon on our float. He received purple hearts, we have the purple heart on our float and we have a little plane kind of coming out of our book and that's for the plane that he was on, he was a bombardier, so that shows his time in the service. So, we tried to do as much as we could but he had such a great life that how do you condense it all down to one float." VOLUNTEERS WORKING ON CITY OF TORRANCE FLOAT "A RACE WELL RUN" CHAMPAGNE BOTTLE FEATURED ON "THE BACHELOR" FLOAT, CALLED "INSPIRING LOVE" (SOUNDBITE) (English) DREW FLEISCHER, POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR ON "THE BACHELOR," SAYING: "Well this year's parade, as you know, is "Inspiring Stories" and one of the things that is an inspiring story every day and one that we portray on the show is inspiring love. So, love stories, everybody's got theirs and we're just happy to share some of our successful love stories this year in the parade." CHAMPAGNE GLASS FEATURED ON "THE BACHELOR" FLOAT, CALLED "INSPIRING LOVE" VOLUNTEERS WORKING ON FLORAL DISPLAY VOLUNTEER WORKING ON KAISER PERMANENTE "TOGETHER WE THRIVE" FLOAT (SOUNDBITE) (English) STEVEN VANDERPOOL, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF LA 2015, SAYING: "The back part of the float is the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which is where the opening and closing ceremonies of our event will be. The middle part is a picture floral design that rotates and it has pictures of Special Olympic athletes in competition. There will be 15 riders on the float, 14 Special Olympic athletes, many who will be at the world games this summer and then Rafer Johnson who is the 1960 Gold Medalist in the decathlon who's the founder of Special Olympics in Southern California." KAISER PERMANENTE FLOAT "TOGETHER WE THRIVE" FLORAL DESIGN VOLUNTEERS PUTTING GLUE ON A ROSE PARADE SIGN YOUNG CHILD PLACING ROSES ON A FLOAT PASADENA, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 29, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ROSE BOWL EXTERIORS
- Embargoed: 15th January 2015 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAEY6A55L33NIJS8REKFOM38PDY
- Story Text: A small army of volunteers in a large warehouse are decorating parade floats with seeds, flowers and other plants in preparation for the 126th Tournament of Roses Parade. The annual event will ring in the new year on Thursday (January 1) morning, as over a hundred florally decorated floats will travel down Pasadena's Colorado Blvd.
The iconic parade started out as part of a travel campaign promoting Southern California's "Endless Summer," and has since become a yearly tradition that celebrates the allure of the "California Dream."
Getting ready for the big day, however, can certainly be a lot of work. Millions of exotic flowers from all over the world are brought in to help decorate the floats, while hundreds of volunteers come from all over the country to help out.
Tim Estes, the president of Fiesta Parade Floats, explained that while his facility was only housing 11 of the floats set to take part in the parade, the sheer volume of workers, flowers and equipment is staggering.
"Every float uses tens of thousands of flowers on it, on every float. We easily have well over a million flowers that we've brought in here and processed to go on these 11 floats that we're doing and the average float takes about 100 gallons of glue because we use five different types of glue that we use to affix the flowers onto the float. Then you have the gasoline and engines, the tires, the wheels, the animation system, there's a lot that happens that goes underneath the float so it's quite unique," said Estes.
Fiesta Parade Floats is now in its 27th year as a float building company.
This year's parade theme is "Inspiring Stories" and float designers have worked all year to design floats to complement the theme.
The City of Torrance, now celebrating its 61st year as a member of the parade, features a float honoring this year's Honorary Grand Marshall Louis Zamperini. Zamperini was raised in Torrance and is considered a local hero.
"His track shoes, a lot of his medals, we are lucky enough to have the Grand Marshall ribbon on our float. He received purple hearts, we have the purple heart on our float and we have a little plane kind of coming out of our book and that's for the plane that he was on, he was a bombardier, so that shows his time in the service. So, we tried to do as much as we could but he had such a great life that how do you condense it all down to one float," said Roseanne Villallobos, president of the Torrance Rose Float Association.
The World War II veteran and Olympic athlete passed away in July. His family will represent him as the Honorary Grand Marshall during the parade. Angelina Jolie's new film "Unbroken" is based on the life of Zamperini.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is honoring doctors fighting the Ebola outbreak in Africa and around the world in its' float "Protecting Global Health." A photo of Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan, who worked with the AIDS Foundation, is featured on the float. Dr. Khan died after treating patients with Ebola in Sierra Leona and contracting the disease. His family will ride the float to honor is memory.
"The fact that the AIDS Healthcare Foundation is honoring him and all the frontline healthcare workers that have lost their lives, it's an inspiring story to the whole world. So they will be aware AIDS and Ebola are still killing people in Africa," said Sahid khan, brother of late Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan.
Other notable floats include the Kaiser Permanente float entitled "Together We Thrive." The float aims to raise awareness about the upcoming 2015 Special Olympics World Games.
The popular television reality show "The Bachelor" will have have a float in this year's parade, featuring many floral arrangements that represent the show's themes.
The Tournament of Roses officially takes place on New Years Day (January 1), but massive crowds are expected to gather on New Year's Eve (December 31) as they look to stake out the best spots along the parade route. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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