She came here from Italy as a child. Now she’s the 2024 Rose Parade queen
Growing up in Italy, Naomi Stillitano didn’t know a thing about the Rose Parade. Then she moved to Southern California. Seven years old, she was swaddled in her mother’s jacket to ward off the cold of an early January morning.
Naomi remembered being dazzled by the flowers and beauty of the Royal Court.
“I was like, ‘I want to be a princess,’ ” Naomi, 17, recalled of her first Rose Parade. Now, nearly a decade later, the Arcadia High School senior is the parade’s 105th Rose Queen.
The teenager appeared visibly emotional during her crowning in October, describing the day as “such an amazing moment that I will always remember.” Her parents, too, were touched by the honor. Mom shed a few tears.
“If you told me nine years ago that I would be the Rose Queen of 2024, I would have not believed you,” Naomi said. “My family celebrated after, they were so happy. I’m honestly honored to just be in this position.”
The road to the Rose Parade has been years in the making for the teen, as well as Tournament of Roses President Alex Aghajanian and Grand Marshal Audra McDonald. Expecting an in-person crowd of about 750,000 and remaining optimistic about sunny weather, Aghajanian said he was looking forward to “bringing people together” during the 135th rendition of the event.
Volunteers help decorate the 2024 Rose Parade floats to prepare them for their New Year’s Day debut.
Aghajanian was elected to the Tournament of Roses Executive Committee in 2015, waiting his time to serve as the 2024 president. His relationship with the Rose Parade began when he was a young boy living near the route.
“What my father used to do was go out and round up all the old cowboy western stars that were putting the horses away that had ridden in the parade and invite them into my living room,” Aghajanian said. “So the likes of Montie Montana and George Putnam and others were in my living room telling stories.”
Aghajanian will put his own personal stamp on the 2024 Rose Parade with the theme of his choosing, which is officially titled “Celebrating a World of Music: The Universal Language.” Aghajanian, an attorney, said he thought of the theme in the middle of the night, waking up his wife to write the name down.
He hopes the theme will reach those who watch the New Year’s Day celebration Monday.
“I am fond of saying I hope that people are sitting on their couches — tapping their fingers or their feet and singing — and are so entertained that it just starts this wonderful celebration all around,” he said.
The message is already felt by McDonald, a Broadway singer whose credits include “Carousel,” “Ragtime” and “Porgy and Bess.”
“It resonated deeply with me, mainly because there’s no truer statement that music is the international language and in this time of such turmoil in the world, music connects us to our humanity and breaks down barriers,” said McDonald, a six-time Tony Award winner.
Unite Here Local 11 has reached tentative agreements with 24 hotels total, out of some 60 properties. The union plans to strike during the Rose Parade.
Aside from the theme, participating in the Rose Parade reminds McDonald, who was raised in Fresno, of memories of her late father.
“My dad was a huge football fan,” she said, “And so a part of our tradition every New Year’s Day was getting up and turning it on the television and watching it.”
McDonald added, “As a little Black girl growing up in Fresno, never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be able to represent in this particular way for the Rose Parade. So that means a lot because representation is everything.”
Going into 2024, McDonald anticipates the Rose Parade will kick off the year with a “spark of beauty, a spark of hope, a spark of understanding.”
“I hope it is a beautiful way to celebrate the beginning of the new year,” she said, “and hopefully the dawn of a better day for all of us as human beings and humankind.”
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