No Rain on This Parade : Rose tourney: Storm will hold off until Thursday, forecasters say, and floats will stay dry for the 37th straight year.

Somebody up there must like the Rose Parade.

A rainstorm that has been brewing out in the Pacific for several days won’t get here until Thursday, giving the annual band-and-floats extravaganza today its 37th straight year without precipitation, forecasters say.

“It looks like a dry day tomorrow,” WeatherData meteorologist Steve Burback said Tuesday, adding that temperatures should reach the low 70s today. The WeatherData service provides forecasts to The Times.

“The storm off the coast will move inland by Thursday afternoon,” he said. “The rain will continue on Friday. There should be one to two inches of rain, all told.”

By late Tuesday, Pasadena at last appeared to be catching the ebullient spirit of the Tournament of Roses, which has been afflicted this year with a case of crankiness.

Smiling volunteers were gluing fresh orchids and gladioluses on floats, apparently oblivious to the controversies that have swirled around the 103rd Rose Parade for almost two months. Thousands of parade watchers were staking out curb space along the route, unfurling bedrolls and tents to spend the night, as sightseers in cars rolled up and down Orange Grove Boulevard.

At a float staging area in Azusa, former Lebanon hostage Joseph Cicippio, smiling broadly, looked at the floats and talked about how his dream of coming to the Rose Parade had helped sustain him during five years of captivity.

“I told myself, come hell or high water, once I was released I was going to bring my wife here,” said Cicippio, who was released by his captors in December.

“I’m more happy than I’ve been in all my life,” said Cicippio, 61, putting his arm around his wife, Ilham. The couple, who are special guests of the Tournament of Roses, will watch the parade in the official reviewing stand on Colorado Boulevard.

Gail Thompson, director of the Pasadena Visitors and Convention Bureau, said her office became aware of Cicippio’s interest in the Rose Parade when his travel agent called for information from Pennsylvania.

The tournament then invited the Cicippios as honored guests, Thompson said.

The former hostage pitched in, adding some orchids to a float-in-the-making and marveling at its color and ingenuity. “I wouldn’t want to be the judge,” he told float designer Ben Lovejoy. “It’s amazing. You can’t capture it all unless you’re here.”

He kissed some Glendora elementary school girls, who had presented him with a bouquet, then climbed aboard the City of Inglewood float, waving at applauding admirers.

Even the prospect of about 15,000 extra cars jammed into residential streets around the Rose Bowl didn’t dent the aplomb of most Pasadenans.

The Pasadena Police Department has elected not to use grassy areas around the Rose Bowl for parking for football game spectators, because Sunday’s rain left those areas waterlogged.

“We’d have a desert out there if we let people park on the grassy areas,” said Pasadena Police Lt. Kevin White.

Instead, the police will employ a contingency plan, guiding spectators’ vehicles into tight patterns along nearby residential streets.

“It’s hard to imagine it being any worse than years past,” said Bill Rihn, who lives in the hills west of the Rose Bowl.

Most Pasadenans from neighborhoods near the Rose Bowl elect to walk to destinations during the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl game, Nack added. “My street is always parked solid anyway,” Nack said. “It’s a half-hour walk to the Rose Bowl. All you need is good shoes and good company.”

Despite the sudden good cheer, demonstrators were still planning peaceful protests against the selection of a direct descendant of Christopher Columbus as one of the grand marshals of the parade.

Rep. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (D-Colo.), the only American Indian in Congress, will also be a grand marshal.

The protesters, who contend that choosing Spanish aristocrat Cristobal Colon as a grand marshal is tantamount to endorsing the destruction that Spanish conquerors brought to American Indians, will be at various spots along the parade route, spokesmen said Tuesday.

American Indian groups and their supporters are set to stage vigils, dance performances and peaceful protests all along the parade route, said representatives of the Alliance of Native Americans, the National Chicano Moratorium and Los Angeles Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance and others. Several American Indian groups had planned all-night vigils on Colorado Boulevard before the parade.

Members of a black activist group said they would be equipped with video cameras so that incidents of “police misconduct” could be recorded. “We want to make sure our cameras are there to calm situations down,” said Michael Zinzun, a member of the Pasadena-based Black Males Forum.

Protesters said they were concerned that about 100 deputies from the Lynwood sheriff’s station, where an alleged group of neo-Nazis and white supremacists is said to operate, will be among the contingent of more than 1,000 law enforcement officers providing parade security.

For their part, the law enforcement officers will also videotape demonstrations, said Pasadena Lt. Robert Huff.

Tournament of Roses Parade Route

Pasadena’s annual Tournament of Roses Parade, held today, draws hundreds of thousands of spectators.

* Time: The two-hour parade begins at 8:10 a.m., with the Rose Bowl game at 2 p.m.

* Route: The 5.5-mile parade route begins on South Orange Grove Boulevard and travels north on Sierra Madre Boulevard. It ends near Victory Park, where post-parade viewing starts at 1:30 p.m.

* Seating: Grandstand seats can be reserved for the parade, but most viewers choose to claim a spot on the sidewalk.

* Parking: Police say those wishing to park within easy walking distance should arrive about 6:30 a.m.

Public display of floats after the parade from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (For the handicapped 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Thursday.)

Rose Parade Order of March 1) U.S.M.C. Mounted Color Guard (equestrian). 2) West Coast Composite Marine Corps (band). 3) Spain ’92 Foundation (float). 4) La Banda Primitiva (band). 5) Spain ’92 Foundation (equestrian). 6) Grand Marshals. 7) China Airlines (float). 8) Pasadena Area Community College District (band). 9) Long Beach (float). 10) Camarillo White Horses (equestrian). 11) Carson (float). 12) Tanner Appaloosas (equestrian). 13) Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Service (float). 14) Marshall County High School (band). 15) Delta Air Lines (float). 16) Galloping Gossips of Imperial Valley (equestrian). 17) Downey (float). 18) Pasadena City College (band). 19) Tournament of Roses Queen and Royal Court. 20) George Putnam Group (equestrian). 21) Eastman Kodak (float). 22) Indian Group (equestrian). 23) Wells Fargo Bank (float). 24) Big 10 Conference (float). 25) Big 10 Conference (band). 26) Lutheran Laymen’s League (float). 27) Valley Hunt Club (float). 28) Family of Freemasonry (float). 29) Tournament of Roses President. 30) Springfield High School (band). 31) Alhambra (float). 32) Malaysia (float). 33) Norco Desperados (equestrian). 34) The Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel (float). 35) Air Academy High School (band). 36) Indonesia (float). 37) Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum (equestrian). 38) Rotary International (float). 39) Mayor of Pasadena. 40) Kickapoo High School (band). 41) Sierra Madre (float). 42) Wee Wheelers Miniature Horse Driving Group (equestrian). 43) Pacific 10 Conference (float). 44) Pacific 10 Conference (band). 45) UNOCAL (float). 46) Montie Montana (equestrian). 47) American Honda Motor Co. (float). 48) Al Malaikah Silver Mounted Patrol (equestrian). 49) Arcadia (float). 50) Londonderry High School (band). 51) Pasadena, Tex. (float). 52) U.S. Ceremonial Unit, B Troop, 4th Cavalry (equestrian). 53) Seventh-day Adventist Church (float). 54) Schurr High School (band). 55) Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers Union (float). 56) American Riding Club for the Handicapped (equestrian). 57) Cal Poly Universities of Pomona and San Luis Obispo (float). 58) Hilo High School (band). 59) General Motors and United Auto Workers (float). 60) Glendale (float). 61) Carousel and Co. (equestrian). 62) Kmart Corp. (float). 63) Carlisle High School (band). 64) La Canada Flintridge (float). 65) Long Beach Mounted Police (equestrian). 66) Los Angeles (float). 67) DeSoto High School (band). 68) Mobile, Ala. (float). 69) Living History Centre (equestrian). 70) St. Louis, Mo. (float). 71) Arco (float). 72) American Donkey and Mule Society (float). 73) Burbank (float). 74) Forest Lake High School (band). 75) Odd Fellows and Rebekahs (float). 76) Farmers Insurance (float). 77) American Morgan Horse Assn. (equestrian). 78) Nestle (float). 79) Lincoln High School (band). 80) Duarte and City of Hope Medical Center (float). 81) Shady Ladies of the Mother Lode (equestrian). 82) Knights of Columbus (float). 83) F.T.D. Association (float). 84) California Pinto Rangers (equestrian). 85) Dr. Pepper Co. (float). 86) Hemet High School (band). 87) Rose Milk (float). 88) La-Z-Boy (float). 89) The Stuart Hamblen Family (equestrian). 90) AmeriFlora 92’ (float). 91) Kendrick High School (band). 92) Security Pacific Bank (float). 93) Southern California Edison (float). 94) Western Group (equestrian). 95) Vons (float). 96) Los Angeles Unified All-District (band). 97) Guatemala (float). 98) Lions Club International (float). 99) Mokelumne Mounties (equestrian). 100) Baskin-Robbins (float). 101) The Salvation Army (band). 102) IHOP Restaurants (float). 103) Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament (equestrian). 104) Rand McNally (float). 105) West High School (band). 106) Torrance (float). 107) Kiwanis (float). 108) Mahogany Cowgirls (equestrian). 109) South Pasadena (float). 110) American Bashkir Curly Registry (equestrian). 111) Inglewood (float). 112) Foothill High School (band). 113) Elks (float). 114) Martinez Family (equestrian). 115) Portland (float).

Rose Bowl Parking

Pasadena police said that because of the recent rainstorms, parking near the Rose Bowl for the game will be limited, essentially only for those people who hold parking passes. For others, police suggest:

* From the Foothill Freeway (210): Exit at Arroyo Boulevard or Berkshire Avenue where police will direct motorists to parking locations along Pasadena streets near the Rose Bowl.

* From the Ventura Freeway (134): Take the San Rafael Avenue exit in Pasadena where police will also direct motorists to parking locations or take the Glendale Freeway (2) north to the eastbound Foothill Freeway (210).

* From the Pasadena Freeway (110): Follow to the end, then go north on Arroyo Parkway and travel on westbound cross streets to make your way to Fair Oaks Avenue and Walnut Street. There, at the southwest corner, park at the Ralph M. Parsons engineering company lot. A shuttle bus ($2.20 for the round trip) will take game-goers to the bowl.

* For other information: Call the Pasadena Police Department’s traffic division at (818) 405-4621 or the Pasadena Convention and Visitors Bureau hot line at (818) 584-5983 (New Year’s Day from 9 a.m. to noon.) Police also recommend that game spectators form car pools or use public transportation.