Here’s a Chance to Blossom : Volunteers are needed to decorate floats for the Tournament of Roses Parade. Work begins a week before the event. Bring scissors.
While watching the 104th Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day, consider this: Someone had to paste those 68,000 chrysanthemums and 382,000 lentils on the right arm of that 52-foot clown that’s waving to 425 million viewers.
What other volunteer job will get you that kind of exposure?
Volunteers begin cutting and pasting flowers and other materials on the parade’s 57 floats one week before the show begins.
Following is a description of several San Fernando Valley-based floats, listing dates and times volunteers are needed. Wear old, warm clothes and bring a pair of scissors. Some organizations may have age requirements for volunteers, so call first.
* The city of Burbank’s 61st float entry, “Milestones in Entertainment,” spotlights the early days of the entertainment industry. The entry is a jam session of sorts, with caricatures of a hand-cranked movie camera, Victrola and old-fashioned microphone, radio and television crooning movie tunes.
The design incorporates more than 100,000 flowers, including carnations, roses, purple mums, orchids and sunflowers. Other materials include lettuce seed, green split pea, black seaweed, lentils and cinnamon sticks.
Float decoration will occur from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Thursday at the Department of Water and Power’s public service yard on Lake Street between Olive Avenue and Magnolia Boulevard. Look for a building labeled “The Float Barn.” (818) 840-0060.
* The International House of Pancakes, based in Glendale, offers “Swan Lake Fantasy” as its 21st float entry--an idea sparked by the company’s “Dream Up Our Float” national competition for children ages 6 to 12. Contest winner Allison Finn, 10, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., designed a gigantic pair of pink ballet slippers and a swan. Allison will do ballet stretches on the bar above the towering shoes while dancers perform excerpts from “Swan Lake.”
The swan will be covered with layers of white chrysanthemums, lunaria and sweet rice. Straw flowers, carnations and gerbera daisies will decorate the toe shoes.
Volunteer shifts of float decoration are held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. or from 2 to 10 p.m. at the Rose Palace, 835 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. (213) 681-0033.
* Glendale-based Baskin-Robbins’ 21st Rose Parade entry, “Party Time!” features a gang of characters from the Warner Bros. animated series “Tiny Toon Adventures.”
The float’s centerpiece is Babs Bunny, who celebrates her birthday flanked by her chums from “Acme Looniversity.” Nearby is Dizzy Devil, who gobbles up ice cream treats speeding down a conveyor belt aimed at his mouth.
“He’s the ultimate party animal as he kicks and waves himself into a feeding frenzy,” reads a Baskin-Robbins news release.
Ti leaves, blue iris, statis, orchids and numerous spices are incorporated in the float, as well as 15,131 dried strawberries used to color Dizzy Devil’s tongue red.
Float decoration is from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. through Thursday in a tent in parking Lot F at the Rose Bowl. Free parking is available in Lot K. Call Steve Syatt at (818) 501-0700.
* The city of Glendale’s 75th Rose Parade entry features a scene from the movie “Fantasia.” Mickey Mouse leads marching mushrooms, dancing thistles and broomsticks toting pails of water. The musical score from the movie will be played.
Blue statis and sweet rice are used to decorate Mickey’s star-covered magical hat. Elsewhere, red carnations, roses, marigolds, palm bark, seaweed and sesame seeds are used.
Float decoration is through Wednesday at the Rose Palace, 835 S. Raymond Ave. Volunteer shifts are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or 2 to 10 p.m. (818) 793-3174.
* Glendale-based Nestle USA’s third float entry, “Bungee Fun at the Big Top,” boasts bungee jumpers who will leap from an 83-foot tower of clowns that comically struggle to keep the columns stable. The jumpers will perform aerial stunts during their falls. The float sets a new height record for Rose Parade entries.
About 75 different decoration materials will cover the float, including chrysanthemums, carnations, marigolds and calendulas. Call Nestle’s volunteer hot line for decorating schedule. (818) 969-5252.
WHERE AND WHEN
* Post-parade viewing: View the floats up close just south of Pasadena’s Eaton Canyon reservoir. The area is bounded by Sierra Madre Villa Avenue and Washington Boulevard to the east and west and Sierra Madre Boulevard to the south.
* General public viewing: 1:30 to 4 p.m. New Year’s Day, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 2 and 3.
* Mobility-impaired and senior citizen viewing: 7 to 9 a.m. Jan. 2 and 3.