South Pasadena Tournament of Roses

​​The oldest self-built float in the rose parade

Hocus Focus

Designer: Joel Gabik
Construction Chair: Al Hope
Decoration Chair: Christie Grahm
Dimensions: 55 feet long, 18 feet wide, 23 feet tall

​Space aliens trick the unsuspecting astronomer in their own whimsical and mischievous ways as this cartoon is brought to life. We are left asking the question, are we really alone? Animation included the telescope moving up and down, then left to right. The large gears at the bottom of the telescope meshed together. The float driver and animator are exposed and in costume in the front flying saucer. The two smaller flying saucers are independent units that flew around the main float, their drivers are also exposed and costumed. The telescope needed to be in the down position in order to miss several obstacles along the parade.

2000

2003

Rodeo Rowdies

Design Concept: Dex Regatz
Final Design: Katherine Demuth
Construction Chair: Al Hope
Decoration Chair: Kathryn Schmiedeberg
Dimensions: 40 feet long, 18 feet wide, 20 feet tall

​It’s another day in the office for a trio of rodeo clowns trying to save a stranded cowboy atop a bucking bull. The bull seems to have the upper hand as he gets his point across to one of the clowns. Animation included a bucking bull, the clown in the front barrel pops up and looks left to right, and the rear clown and barrel flat spin. The bull was so large that its head was hinged so that it swings down and miss the 210 freeway bridge as the float passed underneath. This float was dedicated to the memory of long time member Jack Gillette. The bull’s bell bore the name “Jack” in honor of Mr. Gillette.

2001

A Dance in the Park

Design Concept: Adalee Velasquez
Construction Chair: Mike McFatridge
Decoration Chair: Dave Andrews

​​"Good Times" was the choice of the Tournament of Roses President early in 2001 as the theme for the annual New Year’s Day Rose Parade. It didn’t take long for the entries to come in to the South Pasadena Tournament of Roses Committee and it took even less time for the members to chose "A Dance in the Park" for their city’s entry. A departure from their frequent humorous entries, this was an elegant entry, with four live dancers in formal attire whirling their way across the romantic outdoor ballroom, watched only by the large, marble statue and life-sized peacocks in the garden-like park. The statue was decorated with sweet rice, onion and poppy seeds. Urns filled with cascading flowers discreetly gave the illusion of privacy. The 55-ft. float took four months for the construction alone, with the unique design featuring architecturally exquisite marble columns. A working, aesthetic fountain combined with music to make a melody of it’s own and the romantic bridge was surrounded by white orchids, hundreds of roses, Gerbera daisies, and iris. The float was again powered by compressed natural gas, a clean burning fuel.​

2002

Blast from the Past

Designer: Kristen Lamb
Construction Chair: Eric Wills
Decoration Chair: Julie Smith
Dimensions: 55 feet long; Weight: 40,000 lbs
Propulsion: 400 cubic inch Cleveland (Ford V8), compressed natural gas

Our float, "Blast From The Past", was not only a hit with the New Year's Day Rose Parade crowd but it won the Judge's Special Trophy for the most spectacular showmanship and dramatic impact.

We were one of four floats built entirely by volunteers to be honored in the 2004 Rose Parade. 

South Pasadena is a city that is strong in community, and our depiction of the typical California drive-in celebrates people coming together for food, dance, socializing and fun. This float features an oversized jukebox with music of the 50's, four rock and roll dancers, four diners and a roller skating carhop. Two float operators drove the main float form inside the "Woody" and two operators drove the "Roadster Satellite." The scene features flowers that are indigenous to the state including Bird of Paradise, a variety of palms, lilies, orange trees, palm tree bark, paper tree bark, orchids, gladiolas, gerberas and carnations. Oversized California poppies, covered in dried marigold petals and ground orange split pea, enhance the gardens.

​"South Pas Rocks", Pasadena Star News, Jan 2 2004 Front Page Feature

2004

The Circus Comes to Town

Design Concept: Adalee Velasquez
Construction Chair: Mike McFatridge
Decoration Chair: Dave Andrews
Dimensions: 155 feet long

With the Tournament of Roses theme for the 2003 Rose Parade announced as "Children’s’ Dreams, Wishes, and Imagination," it seemed as an easy choice for the members of the South Pasadena Tournament of Roses Committee to chose "The Circus Comes to Town" as its entry.

Early in the 1900’s trains brought circuses through South Pasadena on the way to Pasadena. Some of the "old timers" remember standing by the train tracks watching the circus train go through town. They were able to relive their memories as the 155-ft. entry, complete with a floral covered 4-4-0 American class steam locomotive, tooted its way down Colorado Blvd. Clowns, giraffes, lions, tigers, and a ringmaster provided flower-covered train cars with a profusion of color. Cranberry seeds and forms of dried grass added to the color scheme. The train windows were made of lunira, a transparent leaf.

​At 155-ft., this fabulous entry earned a new "first" at being the longest float ever entered in the Rose Parade. The 6 operators and more the 10 clowns provided entertainment during the entire route of more than five miles. A real steam whistle and smoke coming out of the smoke stacks added authenticity.

​

Magical Mischief

Designer: Yolanda Villalpando
Design Chair: Dominique Heffley
Construction Chair: Dave Andrews
Decoration Chair: Jennifer Wright
Weight: 30,000 +lbs.
Propulsion: 400 cubic inch Cleveland (Ford V8), compressed natural gas
Power: hydrostatic drive, closed system

The City of South Pasadena presents the comical antics of a group of raccoons who have broken into a magical kitchen while a witch sleeps in her rocking chair. One raccoon learns to fly a broomstick as another picks up a wand and turns a small bunny, decorated in raw cotton, into a 10-foot rabbit. The mischievous raccoons are created using Palm Fiber, Uva Grass, Old Man’s

Beard and Pampas Grass. The garden base of the float is a colorful mix of mums, roses, carnations, iris, orchids, elephant, elephant leaves and hydrangea. The South Pasadena Tournament of roses is proud to be the oldest self-built float in the parade.

​Source: 2006 Souvenir Rose Parade Program

2006

Mom's Flight School

Designer: Amber Abbey
Design Chair: Dominique Heffley
Construction Chair: Jonathan Andrews & Bill Hodson
Decoration Chair: Julie Smith
Weight: 30,000 +lbs.
Propulsion: 400 cubic inch Cleveland (Ford V8), compressed natural gas
Power: hydrostatic drive, closed system

This year's parade theme of "Family", certainly describes our float. "Mom's Flight School", depicts our mama dragon having just experienced the hatch of her babies atop the ruins of a medieval castle. The mama dragon is now teaching her first hatchling the art of flying by attempting to launch the baby from atop her giant legs. Adding to this year's whimsical design presentation is the engineering of an awesome animation device and hydraulic system that moves the giant mother dragon legs up and down while the baby dragon's wings flap and smoke shoots from the mother's huge nostrils.

We are one of six floats built entirely by volunteers to be honored in the 2005 Rose Parade. The South Pasadena float is the oldest self-built all volunteer entry and the second oldest entry in the parade behind the City of Los Angeles. All of our volunteer builders, decorators and community members take special satisfaction for their work.

South Pasadena is a city that is strong in community and family. The creation of our float took over 1500 labor hours from 20 builder volunteers during a three-month period and over 600 individuals from all over the United States gave their time to decorate the float in less than three days.

2005

2008

Jammin' Around the World

Design Concept: James Jontz
Design Artwork: Dominique Hevly
Construction Chair: Bill Hodson
Decoration Chair: Julia Lannen
Weight: 30,000 +lbs.
Propulsion: 400 cubic inch Cleveland (Ford V8), compressed natural gas
Power: hydrostatic drive, closed system

The City of South Pasadena presents a fun and festive float celebrating music as the passport to all of the world’s celebrations. The Maestro Club, a

nine-piece jazz band, rides the float, jamming its way around the world as the float dances down the five and a half mile route. A carpet of 10,000 roses, accented by snapdragons, china lanterns and stargazer lilies, creates a beautiful bed of warm and vibrant color. The globe and ribbon of music notes on the float are covered in dried statice and yoko ono.  The musical instruments, which include moving drumsticks and a sliding trombone, are made of cinnamon, walnut and clover. The City of South Pasadena designs and builds its float through the help of many volunteers living within its own boundaries.

​Source: 2008 Official Tournament of Roses Parade Souvenir Program

2007

Nature's Entertainment

Construction Chair: Scott Wienke
​Design Concept: Marcia Lindahl
Design Artwork: Dominique Heffley
Weight: 30,000 +lbs.
Propulsion: Two 5.7 liter Chevrolet powerplant engines fueled by clean burning propane
Power: hydrostatic drive, closed system

The City of South Pasadena takes its hat off to the wonderful world of nature and all the entertainment it has to offer with this float, “Nature’s Entertainment.” The float honors South Pasadena’s love of the outdoors and the city’s focus on family fun, depicted by a young boy discovering a family of musical frogs right in his own backyard. Each of the five frogs is animated in some motion, and the boy kicks his legs and parts the grass during his backyard adventure. Mums, iris, Leather Fern, roses, hydrangea, goldenrod and crotons adorn the float. Dry materials used on the float include organic tea, onion seeds, white rice, cranberry seed, cinnamon, brown walnut seeds, nutmeg, ground cloves, chili pepper flakes, white sugar and ground vanilla.

​Source: 2009 Official Tournament of Roses Parade Souvenir Program

2009