Campaign seeks to remedy parade’s Trojan, Bruin mascot asymmetry
The rivalry between fans and alumni of USC and UCLA in the area is well known and oft mentioned, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at the annual Fiesta Days Parade in La Cañada.
That’s where for the past two years USC mascot Tommy Trojan has ridden atop his majestic steed Traveler in the Memorial Day event, to the chagrin of Bruins fans like Caroline Craven, who figures it’s about time for some equal representation.
A member of the Fiesta Days Parade Committee, Craven started a casual Facebook campaign last week to see if UCLA fans could muster enough support, and money, to book the mascot Joe Bruin to walk in this year’s parade.
“I grew up here, and we always had a choice; we could root for whomever we wanted,” said Craven, who graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and made some appearances as Oregon University’s Puddles the Fighting Duck. “I think we should have both.”
She says light research has indicated the college does indeed book spirit squad members, like Joe and female counterpart Josie Bruin, for a $100 hourly per-person rate that includes travel time, and feels confident a plan can come together in time for Memorial Day.
But other parade organizers and Bruins fans are skeptical Craven’s mission will bear fruit. La Crescenta resident and committee member Brenda Gant said she’s tried for years to make something happen to no avail.
“Somebody told me (former state Assemblyman) Anthony Portantino could help you, and Anthony tried but he couldn’t get them,” said Gant, who is herself a Bruin, class of ’86, and whose father graduated from UCLA in 1956. “I wasn’t getting anywhere, so finally I was like, ‘You know what? Never mind.’”
Gant said her mother, Mary Gant, was responsible for helping bring the USC mascot into the Fiesta Days through a connection with Traveler’s owner, who lives in Burbank.
Reading a past email she received from UCLA spirit squad director Mollie Vehling, Brenda Gant added that she was under the impression that Joe Bruin did not fly solo, and that booking his itinerant entourage would incur multiple $100 hourly fees.
Barbara Marshall, unofficial Grand Poobah of the Fiesta Days celebration, said Tuesday that organizers would love to infuse the parade with the fun spirit of college rivalry, but that it would likely take someone with deep UCLA connections to make it happen.
“What we really need is a connection of someone in town who could dream up how UCLA could be roped in in a unique way,” Marshall said. “Surely there’s someone in this community who’s a graduate who has some connection of some sort.”
Marshall said a group of USC fans came together in 2013 to book Tommy Trojan and Traveler and have been able to keep the tradition going ever since. When asked if she had a personal preference or affiliation with either one of the two institutions, Marshall opted to remain vague.
“Yes, I do have a preference, but I’m not going to go there,” she said.
Undaunted, Craven is moving forward in her petitioning of Joe Bruin. A college representative recently told her a student who could work the event was being sought out, so she remains hopeful.
“Two of the top schools in the state are right here in our backyard, so let’s celebrate both,” Craven said.
