As the old year winds down, local volunteers prepare for a beautiful entry in the New Year.

By Julie BUTCHER

Of all the 39 flower-covered floats that will grace Colorado Boulevard on Jan. 1 for the 129th Rose Parade, only six of them are “self-built;” the rest are built by professional float companies. And of those six self-built floats, only one is assembled outside, neatly tucked behind Flintridge Preparatory School, “under the bridge” of the 210 freeway.

“We’re all volunteers,” said Hannah Warde of “Decolandia,” as the decorating team is known. “We’ve been doing decorating prep pretty much full time since Dec. 22. It’ll take tens of thousands of volunteer hours to get the rest of it done. But we will!”

She explained the process of how the design of the La Cañada entry makes its way from paper to the boulevard.

“Everyone gets together early in the year and we look over the Tournament [of Roses] theme for the year. Then we brainstorm ideas until we get to three that would work, and we send those off to the officials,” Warde said. “Once a concept is approved, we’ll have an artist’s rendering done and then the construction crew gets to work. We figure out the materials that we’ll use and calculate how much of each we need. You can expect that we’ll use onion seed on the back of the signs, but then every year we use something new. It’s really an amazing process.”

Warde has been helping since she was a freshman at Flintridge Prep, 12 years ago.

“I love that the entire community gets involved. Look at how many families are here? Plus, it’s so cool to get people working with their hands,” Warde said. She demonstrated the difference between cranberry seeds and the lighter-colored sweet rice and yeast seed mixture being glued onto giant flower petals.

This year’s entry is the La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association’s (LCFTRA) 40th entry.

LCFTRA president Chuck Terhune explained how the concept of this year’s float “Panda-monium” fits the parade’s theme, “Making a Difference.”

“We’re celebrating that pandas have gone from being endangered to vulnerable, and that humankind came together to save giant pandas and rescue them,” he said. The concept was submitted by Ella Jacobs, daughter of board member Danelle Jacobs.

“Panda-monium” shows three young pandas engaged in an outdoor adventure. They’re babies, frolicking with a monkey, a flummoxed tree snake and an upturned turtle.

Tournament committee member Tim Rahtz summed up the history of the float, beaming and boosting as he roamed up to the construction site.

“It was borne out of our local businesses, the community, the Kiwanis, probably wrapped up in cityhood,” he said. “Being ‘self-built’ means the entire community is involved and that’s a distinct advantage. Look at all these kids, Girl Scout troops, families. They’ll be here around the clock until we’re done.”

The float has a monkey at the back that spins, a tree branch there will move, and a turtle that spins on his back when the baby panda bops him. Construction committee co-chair Jeff Helgager pointed out some of the moving parts on this year’s float, then pointed out his co-chair Janice Peterson, “over there, working.”

“Next year we’ll have an entirely new animation system, thanks to the generosity of this community, our donors and supporters,” Helgager said. Float development VP Bob Wallace added that the generosity also purchased a new QSC sound system “so we can amplify our sound along the parade route.”

“This is so good for our community,” Rahtz went on. “These kids met at post-parade eight years ago and now they’ve been married for seven months,” he said of two newlyweds finishing up building details on the float before it was driven down the hill to the underpass for decorating.

This year’s float is 43 feet long. It is steered by a driver tucked into the front of the float with assistance from experienced guiders. Its maximum speed is 4.5 mph.

Angelia Mitchell is a realtor with La Cañada’s Harcourts Prime Properties. She’s living here “helping my son Levi here get started in the music business, while my husband Greg stays behind in Arizona. It is wonderful to be able to do something this much fun all together as a family,” Mitchell said as she expertly affixed the tiny seeds to the big flowers.

Diane Williams grew up in the area. She and her husband Stu have traveled from their home in Ozona, Florida to help decorate the La Cañada Flintridge float every year for the past eight years.

“We love it! We come visit family and we come decorate the float,” Stu boomed. Diane added, “Everyone is so friendly, and the atmosphere is cozy. Check out the little canteen. You can get a hot chocolate when you take a break.”

Although the pre-scheduled float decorating shifts have all been signed up for, volunteers are encouraged to show up at the decorating site at 4524 Hampton Road, La Cañada Flintridge to fill in in case of no-shows. Shifts run from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., and 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Though space cannot be guaranteed, if room is available people are encouraged to walk in.

There are also numerous additional opportunities to participate listed on the organization’s website https://lcftra.org.

Float judging begins on Dec. 30 at 3 p.m. The La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association float has won awards in nine of the past 10 years.

  Julie BUTCHER