Float plan is under way

More than flowers will be on display on Burbank’s float for the Pasadena Tournament of Rose’s Parade next year.

For the first time, live band members and a small crowd will accompany Burbank’s float when it makes its way up Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena on New Year’s Day.

With the design and name for the float only weeks away from being confirmed, the number of people to ride on the float and walk alongside it is still up in the air, said Steve Edward, design committee chairman for the Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn.

Preliminary designs of the float show a German beer maiden pouring a frothy brew into the glass of a man seated in front of a cottage home with a gazebo to the side.

People will be selected, possibly through raffle or silent auction, to be the members in a German Oompah band that will play in the float’s gazebo, Edward said.

The float is supposed to be a depiction of an Oktoberfest scene that goes along with the Pasadena Tournament of Roses 2008 theme, “Passport to the World’s Celebrations.”

Initially, the Burbank association received 77 entries from residents of Burbank and other cities, said John Hames, president of the Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn.

Over the past few months, they narrowed the entries down to the winning concept, which was developed by Bill and Carol Cotter, of Granada Hills. Carol Cotter is a member of the Burbank Tournament of Roses Assn.

The actual design and drawing was done by Stacia Martin, who works as an animator for the Walt Disney Co., Edward said.

The first fundraising opportunity for the Burbank float will be at Burbank on Parade on April 28, right on time for the final design to be released.

Including a grant from the city, the float association must raise about $100,000 to cover costs of the materials for the float, Edward said.

Ordering the dry flowers and goods starts in May in order for the growers to be ready for the high demand for float decorations to be used in late November and through December, Hames said.

“We usually have to have our first order of flowers in by late May so the growers know what to grow,” he said. “It’s a lot of prep work. Everything just doesn’t pop up in a week.”

QUESTION

What do you think of the idea for Burbank’s Rose Parade Float? (See story, Page A3) E-mail your responses to burbankleader @latimes.com; mail them to the Burbank Leader, 221 N. Brand Blvd., 2nd Floor, Glendale, CA 91203. Please spell your name and include your address and phone number for verification purposes only.