LCF Rose Parade float ‘Panda-Monium’ just days away from decoration week
Giant panda cubs, a grinning monkey, animated butterflies and behemoth flowers — the lot behind Foothill Municipal Water District is becoming a zoo as La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Assn. members prep their latest Rose Parade float, “Panda-Monium,” for showtime.
Progress on the group’s 40th annual entry into the New Year’s Day parade seen around the world is humming along, despite minor hiccups that postponed completion of a Dec. 9 technical inspection to last Sunday. Having now passed with flying colors, construction team members are pulling long hours to get the 45-foot-long vehicle ready for decoration, which starts Dec. 26.
Construction co-chair Janis Peterson said a shortage of engineers capable of building the many moving parts presented a logistical challenge this year. Unlike past entries, the hydraulic animation on “Panda-Monium” is not controlled by computer. Still, the group is confident the float will meet its deadlines.
“I’m a little bit nervous, but we’ll get there,” Peterson said in an interview Saturday. “We always do.”
Once construction has wrapped, “deco week” begins in the Flintridge Preparatory School parking lot under the Foothill (210) Freeway overpass. From Dec. 26 until New Year’s Eve night, throngs of volunteers will affix some 3,540 roses, 3,075 blue irises and 2,680 chrysanthemums, along with other plant materials and hundreds of pounds of dry goods, onto the float.
“Panda-Monium” depicts the forest excursion of three panda cubs who have befriended a monkey, turtle, butterfly and a pit viper none too pleased to find himself being used as a makeshift rope.
LCF Tournament President Chuck Terhune said the scene pays homage to the 2018 Rose Parade theme “Making a Difference” by acknowledging the international effort made on behalf of giant pandas, removed from the endangered species list in 2016. But it also aims to balance a serious message by conveying the fun and mischievousness of youth.
“We want to bring out some childhood whimsical emotion, some silliness,” Terhune said.
At the helm of this year’s float will be Aram Dergevorkian, a 19-year-old Cal Poly Pomona engineering student who started working with the La Cañada Tournament at age 12. Since then, he’s done everything from screening and shaping to welding and building the animation mechanisms.
“It gives you unbelievable experience,” he said of his volunteerism. “The type of stuff I’ve learned here is stuff you’d never learn anywhere else. It’s just fun.”
Driving down the 5.5-mile parade route and actually being able to look out and see spectators’ reactions is icing on the cake, Dergevorkian said.
When all is said and done, Peterson believes the finished product should be not only attractive but fun and memorable.
“Some floats are really pretty to look at, and we obviously want a pretty float, but we also strive to entertain the audience,” she said. “Your goal as a float builder is to make a lasting impression, something people will still want to talk about years later.”
Twitter: @SaraCardine
