Rainy Day Is a Bright One for Girl Crowned Rose Queen

The moment of truth Tuesday came in a misty rain on the front lawn of the Tournament of Roses headquarters on Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena. Seven Princesses--with scrolled tiaras on their heads--stood in tight formation, tensely awaiting the announcement.

Then Robert Cheney, president of the organization that puts on the annual Rose Parade, spoke the name of the young woman who will preside over the floats-and-bands gala on New Year’s Day.

Tannis Ann Turrentine stepped back in stunned disbelief, her eyes wide. Then the other princesses clustered around to congratulate her, and someone handed her a bouquet of roses.

There was a ritual quality to the tableau, which was much like last year’s and the one before that. But there was no outbreak of tears or sniffles, just a look of sheer enjoyment on the face of the 17-year-old high school senior.

Turrentine has lived on Grand Avenue, behind the white mansion that serves as the Tournament headquarters, since she was 3.

The Rose Queen competition was “such a tradition in our area,” she said after the ceremonies, that “trying out was a given.” Turrentine, tall, with light blue eyes and long, swept-back brown hair, is the daughter of Pasadena interior decorator Edward Turrentine. She attends Mayfield Senior School and has been involved in volunteer activities, such as preparing meals at a local shelter for the homeless and working with orphans in Tijuana.

“People as fortunate as I have been owe it to society to give back a little,” she said.

Asked about the controversy surrounding the selection of a descendant of Christopher Columbus as the grand marshal of the parade, Turrentine said, “The Tournament of Roses is all about celebrating the New Year. I don’t think there’s any place for controversy.”

The theme of the parade will be “voyages of discovery.”

American Indian groups and others, including Pasadena Vice Mayor Rick Cole, have charged the Tournament with insensitivity for memorializing the 500th anniversary of the 1492 discovery of America, because Columbus’ arrival in the New World meant death and enslavement for millions of Indians.

Turrentine said explorers had just been part of “what makes things change.”

The Rose Queen is the survivor of a monthlong process, in which 731 initial applicants were finally winnowed down last week to the seven-member Royal Court.

Turrentine, who will major in both theater and elementary education in college, said she found the competition tiring at times, but exhilarating as letters arrived confirming her promotion to successive levels.

“As I was going through the process and I continued to get the letters,” she said, “there was nothing but joyous celebration.”