Dino to represent La Canada in 2013 Rose Parade

A brontosaurus made of cold steel and uncounted flowers will represent La Cañada Flintridge at the 124th Rose Parade on Jan. 1, 2013.

This week officials with the La Cañada Flintridge Rose Tournament Assn. unveiled the winning concept and a preliminary drawing of the float.

The entry, dubbed Dino-Soar, came from La Cañada Flintridge resident Janis Peterson, a former La Cañada float driver who along with her son, Drew, provided the most compelling idea of the 140 submitted to float officials.

The written entries faced several rounds of scrutiny, according to association president Ann Nielson. At first, any interested party was allowed to weigh in, using the association’s criteria that the float be humorous, animated and colorful. After about 60 entries remained, float association veterans with an eye toward design specs and float construction determined a winner.

Contestants were allowed only to describe their float ideas, rather than present them in drawings, in order to weed out an old bias favoring entries from people with strong illustration skills, Neilson said.

“Years ago, the better artist was the one catching everyone’s attention,” she said. “Now, it is just ideas.”

Nielson said more ideas were submitted this year — the first time the association insisted on online-only submissions — than in the last few years.

The identity of the winner was unknown to the judges, and Neilson said it was a pleasant surprise to have a La Cañadan take the cake.

Peterson did not return calls seeking comment.

After the entry was chosen, Jacob Maitless, a longtime artist for the association, sketched the first working version of the final product.

The image features a young brontosaurus romping on roller skates with wings strapped to his back, watched by a saber-toothed tiger and a pterodactyl. The theme for the Rose Parade in 2012 is “Oh, the Places You’ll Go.”

A color rendering of the float design will be unveiled at the association’s bingo barbecue benefit, at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 28, at the La Cañada Thursday Club, 4440 Woodleigh Lane.

Neilson said volunteers will now name each part of the float as the first step in figuring out size, color, materials and when to build what. A bare-bones version of the float will make an appearance in May, but it won’t resemble its final incarnation, she said.

“The public gets its first look at a big metal box on Memorial Day,” Neilson said.