Volunteers put in long hours to finish floats
Sandee Verry was covered in purple statice flower petals and operating on only a few hours of sleep, but she could not keep the smile off her face.
After decades of watching the Rose Parade on television, Verry was behind the scenes at Pasadena’s Rose Palace, helping decorate the parade’s banner float. It was something she’d flown in from Palm Harbor, Fla., to do.
“I’ve watched this parade every year since 1959, and it’s just fascinating even to be cutting flowers,” said Verry, 65. “I’ll put in whatever hours they need.”
FULL COVERAGE: 2012 Tournament of Roses
Verry is one of thousands of volunteers this week to put the final touches –- flowers -- on the Rose Parade’s more than 40 floats. Volunteers have come from across the country and are armed with thousands of gallons of glue, scissors and even blenders, where flowers are shredded into a fine powder to be glued onto the floats.
- Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times
Photo: Sarah Crespo applies glue to the stars on one of the Rose Parade floats under construction Thursday. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times