Rose Parade Trophy Given to Wrong Float

Because of a “statistical error,” Tournament of Roses officials awarded the Volunteer’s Trophy to the wrong float, said Don Murphy, chairman of the tournament’s judging committee.

Officials of the Pasadena parade overlooked 17 feet of Burbank’s float when they gave the city the Volunteer’s Trophy for the “best floral design of parade theme” award in the 35-feet-or-less category. But on Jan. 2, Phoenix Decorating, builders of Alhambra’s float, told Murphy that Burbank’s float was too big to qualify.

So within a week, judges recrunched their numbers and came up with the true winner, Alhambra’s “Easter Egg Hunt” float. The trophy was awarded to Alhambra last Monday.

Murphy said the mistake was “most likely a human error. Somehow [the Burbank float] got shifted on to a list that was eligible for the 35-or-less category.”

Calling it the first such error in Rose Parade history, tournament President Bud Griest Jr. presented the winners with their own trophy.

“This is our first award in 15 years, and we’re delighted about it,” Mayor Talmage V. Burke said.