Batten Down the Hatches: It’s the Rose Parade

At 0200 hours on Dec. 31, a 27-foot freight truck will take position along Pasadena’s Colorado Boulevard, a defender against an incoming swarm.

In its arsenal will be 198 sheets of half-inch-thick plywood -- the tools it will use to protect businesses along the boulevard from the barrage of people, floats and debris that are part of Pasadena’s annual Rose Parade invasion.

As the city braces for an incursion that will take almost 26 hours to complete and will, according to Tournament of Roses estimates, swell the population of Pasadena almost tenfold, there are strategies to employ, preparations to make and allegiances to consider.

But it’s a matter of debate whether the coming invasion is a bad thing (think vandals sacking Rome) or a good thing (think the Allies entering Paris).

“There are basically two approaches on the part of Pasadenans,” said Steve Madison, a city councilman who represents many of the residents around the Wrigley Mansion, headquarters for the parade. “One approach is get out of town. Don’t even be here. The other approach is to embrace it and enjoy it.”

For Pasadena-based Rusnak Automotive Group, at the western edge of the parade route along Colorado, avoiding the invasion is a costly but necessary part of doing business.

Years ago, said Ron Taylor, the company’s president, Rusnak tried staying open on Dec. 31. But it was immobilized by the invaders. “Too many people are trying to get in to use your restroom,” he said.

If the dealership stayed open, Taylor said, “it would be a good day for business.” Instead, at 0730, the time Rusnak’s mechanics begin work on a typical Tuesday, the building will be shuttered and two extra security guards will keep watch over the Jaguars, Mercedes-Benzes and other upscale vehicles that Rusnak sells.

Others along the parade route relish the opportunity to celebrate with Pasadena.

“We love it,” said Becky Thyne, a Pasadena lawyer who lives with her husband in a condominium at the corner of Orange Grove Boulevard and Waverly Drive, where the parade’s equestrian units line up on New Year’s Day. “As long as I live there, why not enjoy it?”

Pete Stevens, general partner of Boardups Unlimited, enjoys the parade too. His company owns the 27-foot truck loaded with plywood.

“This is our single biggest day throughout the year,” he said.

Boardups Unlimited will sheathe 13 businesses this year along Colorado to guard against accidents. For $10 a linear foot, the company will install a framework of 2-by-4s, to which it attaches 8-foot tall sheets of plywood. A typical Rose Parade installation runs about $295, but bigger clients, such as Pottery Barn, might pay 10 times that.

But the same stores that want to guard against vandalism also want to reap the benefits of the invasion. Boardups Unlimited always leaves an opening for customers.

The New Year’s Eve onslaught begins in earnest at 1200 hours sharp. That’s when parade-goers are legally allowed to stake their claims to territory along the route.

The Tournament of Roses does not keep statistics on how many people camp out overnight, but of the 800,000 people it says attended the parade last year, only 125,000 sat in grandstand seats. Many of the rest will park folding chairs, sleeping bags and coolers along the sidewalks, behind a painted blue line that serves as the official border between sidewalk and street, and wait until the parade begins at 0800.

“After 12:30 [a.m.], that place becomes a zoo,” said John Mackay, a deliveryman for Bryan’s Cleaners. On New Year’s Eve, Mackay makes his rounds of the condos and homes close to the parade route early to avoid the madness.

The Valley Hunt Club on Colorado Boulevard is so deep into its parade party preparations that it must shut down on Dec. 31 to handle the crowds Jan. 1. About 900 club members line up for brunch during the parade and then chili and chowder before heading for the Rose Bowl football game.

“It’s our biggest day of the year,” said David Mole, the club’s chief operating officer.

Throwing a party is a strategy that many Pasadenans employ. Residents along the western part of the route say that the Tournament is generous about giving out extra parking passes -- which allow the holder to enter sealed-off zones early on New Year’s Day -- so that they can invite friends and family for breakfast and float-viewing.

“I think it comes with the territory when you buy a place on Orange Grove,” said Maria Mallace who, along with her husband, Sandy, marks the morning with smoked salmon, sweet rolls and 90 friends watching the parade from their penthouse condo at the corner of Orange Grove and Ellis Street.

But long before Mallace’s guests greet New Year’s morning with strong coffee -- and perhaps bloody marys -- around the corner, the Ralphs store at 320 W. Colorado will close at 1600 hours on the 31st, part of an arrangement between the supermarket and the parade’s parking and seating vendor.

The market usually stays open until 0200. On New Year’s Eve, it’s just as well that it closes early, said the store director, Mike Moore. “Because the streets are so crowded, we are just a glorified 7-Eleven, with everyone coming in to use the restrooms, buy a Coke or a bag of potato chips.”

The yearly invasion is in full force at 2200 hours, when the floats begin lining up on Orange Grove. By then revelers will be strolling the streets around Orange Grove and cars will clog Colorado Boulevard, honking horns and illuminating the street with the red tinge of brake lights.

As the calendar turns and the floats rev their engines in anticipation of the final parade judging at 0300, many locals will join the crowd of out-of-towners in the streets, exchanging greetings and examining the floats up close. It is a moment, many residents say, when all of the inconvenience seems worth it, and the throngs of people seem to coalesce into an immense, yet intimate, neighborhood shindig.