Rose Parade float takes shape

Robert Chacon

High on his horse atop a multi-colored butte, a lone cowboy will

strum his six-string and sing Gene Autry’s “Back in the Saddle

Again,” while keeping his eye on his herd of cows. Playing on the

115th Rose Parade’s theme, “Music, Music, Music,” Burbank’s 2004

float entry is aptly named “Moosic, Moosic, Moosic.” This year marks

the city’s 72nd entry since 1914, said Teri Bastian, president of the

Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn.

“This year’s float is going to be adorable,” Bastian said.

The float is housed at a Burbank Water and Power warehouse on

North Lake Street, where volunteers are scheduled today to apply

shape-forming foam onto the skeletal structure.

In order for the 25-foot-tall float to be transported safely

without hitting electrical wire, designers engineered the float’s

butte to fold over and ride flat against the desert scene. Four

drivers will ride on the float New Year’s Day -- a driver, an

observer, someone in charge of music and an animation conductor.

“Moosic” was selected as this year’s float theme only after

Tournament of Roses officials declared that Burbank’s original

design, featuring various animals dancing around a juke box, was

similar to that of another float. The float was designed by Burbank

residents Jennifer Edwards and TaMara Carlson-Woodard.

Beginning Dec. 26, hundreds of volunteers will begin covering the

float with more than 100,000 flowers, including 15,000 roses.

Burbank’s float is one of six in the parade that is built by an

all-volunteer group, Bastian said.

“We get a lot of high school kids because it counts for community

service hours,” she said.

The cities of Burbank, La Canada Flintridge, South Pasadena,

Sierra Madre and Downey, as well as Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San

Luis Obispo, use only volunteers to build the floats. Most floats are

built by commercial builders.