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Posted by Barbara M. Martin Jan 4, 2007 |
The Bayer Advanced Tournament of Roses float for 2007 is called "Red Carpet of Roses." It measures 55 feet long ,18 feet wide, and 30 feet tall complete with a hydraulic operated center tower that lowers to fit under a short bridge at the end of the parade route. It looks like a Victorian conservatory greenhouse on wheels and is filled with thousands of roses -- over 50 varieties. The three All-America Rose Selections winners made their 2007 debut on the float, too. Did I mention the larger than life angel motif working water fountain on the front?
This year I went to Pasadena, California to see the floats up close when they went on exhibit after the Rose Bowl parade. The floats are parked in a long line down the middle of a wide street and are surrounded by wall to wall people. I had no idea it would be so crowded the day after the parade! Apparently it was no surprise to the Tournament people because they had excellent organization, crowd control and supervision for every float. We parked at the Rose Bowl (stadium) parking lot and took one of three shuttle bus routes clear across town to the end of the parade route. I was a little surprised at the cost: $7 entrance and $3 for the shuttle per person, parking is free. First ride I've had on an orange school bus in many years!
Most of the flowers on the floats were still in good shape, despite having been through the parade, the 75 degree sunny days in Pasadena, and a very windy night. I loved all of the floats, but I want to mention this one in particular because it won the Queen’s Trophy for the third time for The Most Effective Use and Display of Roses in Concept, Design and Presentation. This is the seventh consecutive trophy for this company (all seven done by float builder Phoenix Decorating of Pasadena) and they are justifiably proud of the achievement.
I examined the Bayer float and also watched the short documentary they presented about how the float is made. (Watch it if you ever have an opportunity to do so.) The amount of work is astonishing, starting with the metal framework covered with window screen then sprayed with a special foam used only on floats, then painted, then covered all over with plant material.
For example, the white is crushed white rice glued over white paint, the brown is nutshells, the blues are typically statice (each flower is trimmed off the stem by hand and then ground up in a blender to make the petals cover more area) and the dried corn husk floor covering was ironed flat in a giant roller press prior to being glued on. The little silver leaves are glued on one by one. People of all ages work on the floats, lots of kids doing service projects no doubt. Little girls seem to have the perfect sized fingers and manual dexterity to be top notch gluers for all those tiny pieces. They also fit more easily into small places -- every inch of the float is covered.
The fresh flowers are added at the last minute (well, it takes a couple of days and they work iniside cooled buildings to keep the flowers fresh as long as possible) and each flower is placed in small vial of water and that is stuck into the foam.
It can take three to seven months to make the float depending on the design. This year's design was intended to show roses being grown and cultivated, so the conservatory greenhouse was filled with flats and flats of roses. Just beautiful! Here is a photo (taken from the back end of the float) and a little more about the float from the official web site.
I would like to thank all of the people who worked on all of the floats in the parade -- truly outstanding!
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