On Friday afternoon I headed back out to Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale to check out the progress on the floats they are preparing for the 128th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade which will be held Monday, January 2, 2017, in Pasadena, California.
The last time I visited was Tuesday, the day after Christmas. That was the first day that decorating could begin, so all they were adding then was the “dry goods” such as seeds, husks and cut up leaves and flowers. As they are all glued into place, the warehouse was pretty thick with the aroma of paint and glue. Friday was completely different. Continue reading
On Tuesday afternoon I headed back out to Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale to photograph the beginning of the decorating portion of the floats being built there for the 128th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
Unlike my visit of two weeks ago when the warehouse sounded, smelled and looked a lot like any other workshop, yesterday was the first day that volunteers were allowed in to begin the actual decorating of the floats.
When decorating the floats, they begin by adding the \”dry goods\” such as various seeds, husks and cut up leaves and flowers which are meticulously glued into place. I would not be surprised to hear that a significant number of volunteers finished their day with a slight buzz as the aroma of glue and paint definitely permeated the air. The flowers will probably begin being added on Thursday or Friday as the judging will be held on Sunday; the parade itself will not be held until Monday, January 2, 2017. Continue reading
Tuesday afternoon I headed out to Irwindale to continue one of the few Christmas traditions I still keep with; photographing the construction of floats for the upcoming 128th Tournament of Roses Parade by Fiesta Parade Floats. Fiesta Floats creates some of the best floats in the Tournament of Roses Parade and is the most awarded float builder in Rose Parade history; it is no wonder why the City of Torrance has been using them at least as long as I have been covering the event (five or six years).
At this phase of the construction, it is just that, construction. Some of the floats have a few props attached that might give you an idea of what the float\’s general theme might be, but that is it. In a few weeks the warehouse will smell of glue and flowers, but now the aroma is of paint and metals being welded; in other words a shop. Continue reading
It is New Year\’s Eve, and the time is up for the preparation of the floats for the 126th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade with will begin at 8:00 AM on January 1, 2015. I began my day by heading back out to Irwindale and Fiesta Parade Floats, the leading award winning float-builder in the Tournament of Roses Parade.
I lucked out today as I happened to arrive at Fiesta Floats after they had begun removing some floats from the building they were built in, giving me the ability to take some photos without dozens (or hundreds) of people vying for position to take their photos. If you have been following the progression of the float construction you can see that the Torrance entry dedicated to hometown hero, Louis Zamperini, came out very nice. It will be one of the first floats in tomorrow\’s parade. Continue reading
If you will recall, last week I headed out to Fiesta Parade Floats to take photos of the floats they were building for the upcoming 125th Tournament of Roses Parade. It was December 23 and at that point the floats were virtual skeletons; waiting for December 26 when the actual decorating could begin. The parade rules state that all surfaces of the float framework must be covered in natural materials; usually flowers and seeds. Since these natural materials have a tendency to decay after they are plucked from the ground, the decorating does not begin until December 26. The decorating must be completed by the evening of December 30 so that the floats can be judged on December 31.
Yesterday, December 30 I headed back out to Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale to see how progress was coming along. The first thing I noticed was how great it smelled in there with thousands upon thousands of flowers; most already on the floats, but some still waiting to be applied. One of the volunteers told me that they got a slow start because of the extremely warm weather we have been experiencing, but it was obvious that most of the floats were very close to completion.
After I left Irwindale I headed out to the Rose Bowl Stadium parking lot, having been invited by the California Cut Flower Commission (CCFC) to come photograph the float by entered by California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). Last year the CCFC reached out to me because approximately 80% of all cut flowers sold in the United States are imported from other countries. The CCFC and California flower farmers were working with the Cal Poly Universities and the City of South Pasadena to ensure that more than 85% of the flowers used on their floats were American grown, specifically from California’s flower farms. This year, Cal Poly is the only certified \”California Grown\” float in the parade with more than 85% of the flowers used to decorate the float being sourced from California flower farmers. Continue reading
This afternoon I headed out to Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale, CA to check out the progress on the float building for the upcoming 125th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade which will be held Wednesday, January 1, 2014. As I have been donating time towards helping the Torrance Rose Float Association (TRFA) raise the funds needed for building the float, I figured I would go out to where the float is being built so people can get an idea of what goes into a project like this.
Fiesta Parade Floats builds award winning floats and has for several years; as such, they were actually building about 10 floats. I went a few times last year, but today had the fewest number of people on-site that I can recall. I asked one of the builders and he said that the floats are all pretty much ready for the decorating to begin; that starts the day after Christmas and must be completed by the evening of December 30 as the floats will be judged on December 31. I will go back out in a few days after the decorating has begun so you can see the difference.
The theme of this year\’s Rose Parade is “Dreams Come True.\” The American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), which began in Torrance is a primary sponsor for Torrance\’s entry to the parade this year; so you will notice a definite soccer theme with \”Everyone Plays\”, which is the first of AYSO Soccer’s Six Philosophies and the theme of the 2014 Rose Parade float. Continue reading
As I mentioned a couple months ago, I volunteered to help give the Torrance Rose Float Association (TRFA) some additional exposure to assist them in their fundraising efforts so the City of Torrance can be represented at the next Tournament of Roses Parade. A couple nights ago I heard that the TRFA needed volunteers to run their booth at the 2013 Torrance Annual Halloween Carnival, so Tanya stepped up to take care of their booth for a couple hours. Judging by the photos, she had as much fun as the kids playing the game.
The City of Torrance no longer provides public funds for entering a float in the Rose Parade, but relies on private donations to the Torrance Rose Float Association, a 501(c)(3) organization. The TRFA is looking for help with many activities that need to be done throughout the year. If you are interested in volunteering help or want to make donations, please visit the TRFA website at http://www.torrancerosefloat.com/.
The Halloween Carnival was held at Charles Wilson Community Park, 2200 Crenshaw Boulevard in Torrance, on October 31, 2013. Continue reading
Last night, the Torrance Rose Float Association (TRFA) held a fundraiser, Meatballs & Bingo, at the Order Sons of Italy in America hall in Torrance. The event was held to help raise the money required to enter a float in the 2014 Tournament of Roses Parade and featured a spaghetti dinner then some rousing games of Bingo with potential door prizes for the winners. I have to admit, I have never played Bingo beyond the standard game we used to play as children. I had no idea that Bingo had so many variations, but there are many and several of them were played last night.
The City of Torrance no longer provides public funds for entering a float in the parade, which usually costs about $250,000; but rather now relies on private donations to the Torrance Rose Float Association, a 501(c)(3) organization. The TRFA is looking for help with many activities that need to be done throughout the year. If you are interested in volunteering help or want to make donations, please visit the TRFA website at http://www.torrancerosefloat.com/. Continue reading
These photos are of the floats of the 124th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade which was held Tuesday, January 1, 2013 in Pasadena, CA. As I took far too many photos to be viewed easily in one gallery, I broke the photos up into two groups; the floats of the parade and one of the people of the Rose Parade which includes the marching bands and equestrian units. This gallery includes all the floats as well as the cars transporting the Grand Marshal, President of the Tournament of Roses, Hall of Fame Inductees and others of that type. Due to the number of photos, you might find it easier to use the slideshow feature.
There were about 40 floats entered, several of which had been covered in my previous articles. I would like to once again thank the following for helping me gain access to watch the floats being built over the last month: Fiesta Parade Floats, Pollack PR Marketing Group and California Cut Flower Commission. The watermarks on the photos have been purchased by Got Web Host, who has been hosting web sites for personal and commercial use since 2002. The other half of the photos were watermarked as a donation to the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, the only charity for victims of Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease (RAD), also known as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). If you know someone that suffers from RA, please tell them about the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation; they will appreciate it. Continue reading
These photos were taken Saturday, December 29 at Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale, CA as volunteers hurried to add the organic items to nine of the entries to the 124th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade. After my last visit to Fiesta Floats on Christmas Eve I happened to notice that Fiesta Floats was tweeting my articles about the float preparation at their location, so I contacted their social media person via Twitter and asked if they would be able to assist in my getting in to photograph the actual decorating of the floats. I was put in touch with the Vice-President of The Pollack PR Marketing Group who was more than happy to help me come back in with my camera.
This was my third visit to the warehouse at Fiesta Floats and the first thing I noticed was that this time it smelled great! Of the 10 floats built by Fiesta Floats, nine of them were set up with scaffolding around them and the floats were covered with people adding flowers, seeds and whatever other finishing touches needed to be completed by Monday. To me, some of the more interesting tasks were performed by those adding the small details to the floats; items such as books or butterflies that required each individual seed to be added, one by one; or the people underneath the floats that would pull the flower holders down to ensure that only flowers would be seen on the topside. Continue reading