Glendale Rose Parade float’s success rides on the public

This year’s Rose Parade on New Year’s Day rolled through Pasadena without a Glendale entry for the first time in a century.

Just nine months after the tradition’s interruption, members of the Glendale Rose Float Assn. rode atop a new float they hope will mark the beginning of another long streak of parade participation as they went on a test ride of the 2016 submission called “Getting There is Half the Fun.”

Standing at 55 feet tall at its highest point, the float features renditions of a classic car, plane, train and the Larry Zarian Transportation Center, falling in line with the theme of next year’s parade, “Find Your Own Adventure.”

“It will probably be one of the largest floats that Glendale has had … It’s got an airplane with spinning propellers and there’s steam coming out of the train,” said Keith Sorem, the association’s president.

So far, only the frame of the float has been completed. The flowers will be added by hundreds of volunteers come December.

The test run took place along Raymond Avenue in Pasadena flanked by floats from other cities. They were all assembled by Phoenix Decorators.

For volunteer Cindy Slaughter, who rode on the float, it was an exciting experience following the disappointment of learning there wasn’t going to be a 2015 parade entry.

“Traffic was stopped; we were holding up traffic and waving to people. It was fun for us, but maybe not so much for the people that had to wait for us,” she said, jokingly.

There’s room for 14 people on the float.

Between now and when volunteers come together to decorate the Glendale float, a lot needs to happen on the business side of the project.

In past years, the city of Glendale either fully or partially funded construction of a Rose Parade float. However, with a tight budget and a lack of volunteers to raise funds, a submission for the 2015 New Year’s Day parade didn’t materialize.

With a galvanized group of volunteers who stepped up to the plate, the City Council allocated $200,000 for 2016, thanks to an upward blip in revenue.

But Mayor Ara Najarian told the association there wouldn’t even be a discussion about additional funding in 2016 if group members didn’t raise at least $50,000 on their own to partially pay back the city.

In that respect, the association has a long way to go.

At a meeting on Wednesday night, it was announced the association has raised $8,000 so far.

Sorem, however, said there are fundraising strategies at play.

Part of the plan includes a combination of trying to get paid sponsorships as well as “everyman” donations, which will come from residents, he said.

The bulk of the fundraising effort will kick off in the coming weeks, Sorem added. There will be a fundraising event called “Everything is Coming Up Roses” on Nov. 1, and a drive on a crowd-funding website is expected to launch sometime this month.

The association has also been setting up a booth every weekend at the Montrose Harvest Market.

Sorem said he’s spoken with members of other float fundraising organizations who have told him to wait until the last quarter of the year to make a big push, and that’s exactly what he plans on doing.

“We’re optimistic,” Sorem said. “We think we’ve got a great float and hopefully people will be inspired. It’s kind of hard to talk about New Year’s when it’s 105 degrees outside.”

For more information about next year’s float, visit glendalerosefloat.com.

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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com

Twitter: @ArinMikailian