Concert of Flowers on Hit Parade

You could almost hear the collective sigh of relief.

Although the nation remained on orange high alert, the 115th Rose Parade went off Thursday in Pasadena without even a minor breach of security, tournament officials said.

“We are ecstatic,” Tournament of Roses Assn. Chief Operating Officer William B. Flinn said. “This was another picture-perfect day in Pasadena and Southern California.”

During the first morning of 2004, several hundred thousand spectators gaped as giraffes and chandeliers fashioned from orchids, roses, lentils and seaweed passed by on 49 floats, including one that soared 101 feet into the air. Twenty-three marching bands made hometowns and high schools proud, while riders with 24 equestrian units waved at the spectators, many of them bundled up against the chill.

Before the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard marched forward, launching the parade at 8 a.m., the sky was gray and ominous, but it did not rain. Perhaps because of the obvious police presence, the streets of Pasadena were festive but largely tranquil overnight. There were 37 arrests, most for drunk and disorderly conduct and related offenses. Police made three felony arrests, including one for selling unlicensed knockoffs of Tournament of Roses merchandise.

There were no arrests during the parade, police said.

“Music, Music, Music” was the theme of this year’s parade, with Hollywood composer John Williams serving as grand marshal.

Flinn said music was an especially apt theme because “it’s definitely a second language that everybody knows ... and we communicate through music.”

The parade featured a pair of flyovers, one at the start by a B-2 stealth bomber and two fighter jets and a later pass by three helicopters in honor of California’s firefighters.

A Cinderella-themed float covered with more than 100,000 roses and sponsored by FTD won the parade’s top Sweepstakes Trophy.

The Grand Marshal’s Trophy for excellence went to perennial prizewinner Rain Bird Corp. for its “Springtime Symphony.” A sylvan scene with a conservation message, the float featured two gigantic mechanical owls’ heads and one real owl.

Named Zeus, the 5-year-old female Eurasian eagle owl had been flown in from St. Louis. Its handler, Walter Crawford Jr., held the orange-eyed bird aloft throughout the parade.

“It’s a tough ride for me, holding her up for three hours, but if I get the message out, I’m pleased,” he said.

Crawford said the worst moment of the trip was when airport security discovered his cache of frozen rats, the owl’s food of choice. “We definitely gave the security guy a Maalox moment,” he said.

Many of the parade spectators carried small American flags or single roses. One held aloft a sign that read, “God Is Angry”; another carried one that said “Christmas Is Demonic.” A dozen women in the grandstands wore hats piled high with artificial flowers, and one spectator carried a doll that bore a button reading: “Some day a woman will be president.”

Dominique Albanese was especially happy to be in Pasadena. Three weeks ago, her East Los Angeles home burned down, and her husband nearly died in the fire. The family has been living in a hotel ever since.

Albanese brought her children to the parade, she said, because “today’s a fresh start. My husband and I have a great deal of hope for the new year.”

Several hours before the parade began, temperatures dipped to 34 degrees. The cold was a mixed blessing for local merchants such as John Fisher. The owner of Ruby’s Diner had opened at 4 a.m., but found that once customers came in, they were reluctant to leave.

Steve and Tina Gibson of San Diego paid $450 to park their RV in a spot with a view of the parade through their windshield. The Gibsons, who put out free coffee for their fellow paradegoers, said that the event is always friendly but that it has rules: “It’s like one big family, but people are very aggressive about their space.”

As the parade began, the streets were still strewn with confetti, silly string, party poppers, tortillas and less attractive refuse, remnants of all-night parties. The smell of charcoal from portable barbecues still hung in the air.

A handful of devoted volunteers, wearing white coveralls, used brooms and scoops to tidy up after the horses, especially those near the TV cameras.

Cristina Ziste, 33, was awakened at dawn when the sprinklers went on in front of the Rusnak Jaguar dealership on Colorado Boulevard. A plot of ground in front of the dealership had been her makeshift home for two days. Clad in a scarf, a blue jacket and her pink pajama bottoms, she watched the parade.

“It’s worth it,” she said, explaining that her 9-year-old daughter would remember the parade as long as she lived.

Ziste had brought sleeping bags, 20 blankets and a grill, which police officers gathered around to warm their hands throughout the night.

Fran Urton and Hilda Ellerbe, both in their 80s, wore long mink coats and gloves as they sat in their grandstand seats on Orange Grove Boulevard. Urton, who lives in Newport Beach, attended her first Rose Parade at the end of World War II.

“I’m getting up in age, and I decided one more time,” she said.

Flinn said the key to pulling off an event as elaborate as the Tournament of Roses is having “a lot of people doing a little rather than a few people doing a lot.” Thirty-four committees shared the responsibilities this year, said Flinn, who has a sign in his office that reads: “Jan. 1 is too late.”

Before the parade, he appeared confident that it would proceed without major glitches. The only obvious snafus were delays attributed to dawdling by marching bands from Rose Bowl rivals USC and the University of Michigan and another brief holdup when South Pasadena’s float broke down.

“This event has been very large for a very long time,” Flinn said, “and safety and security have always been a top priority.”

This year’s security was the tightest ever, according to tournament officials. More than 1,000 law enforcement personnel, many in plainclothes, were deployed, and sensors had been placed along the route to detect biochemical agents. Small planes were banned from the skies over the 5 1/2-mile parade route along Colorado, from Orange Grove to Victory Park.

Megan Chinen, a 17-year-old La Salle High School senior from Pasadena, reigned as 86th Rose Queen. Both she and her twin sister, Erin, tried out for the court, promising they would both drop out if only one was chosen. But when Erin was eliminated, she urged Megan to stay in the competition.

In the weeks before the parade, Chinen and her six princesses made 150 official appearances, including signing autographs for hospital patients.

“It’s really not a beauty contest,” said Gene Gregg, chairman of the queen and court committee whose responsibilities included discouraging media inquiries about boyfriends of the queen and her court.

The committee scrutinized the 1,036 applicants seeking “wonderful young women of character ... who are going to be good ambassadors for the Tournament of Roses,” he said.

Planning for next year’s parade will begin in earnest next week, Flinn said: “Monday at the office, we start recapping. We post-mortem every operation of the Tournament of Roses.”

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Times staff writers Sara Lin, Jean-Paul Renaud, Erin Ailworth, Cynthia Daniels, Christiana Sciaudone, Joy Buchanan, Kevin Pang, Regine Labossiere and William Wan contributed to this report.