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With Jan. 1 on horizon, volunteers ramp up decorating Rose Parade floats

Frank Rounds, 79, of La Verne remembers watching a long-ago Rose Parade sitting on his Dad’s shoulders.

“We had an aunt who lived on Berkeley (Avenue) and Colorado (Boulevard) in Pasadena, so we’d walk a block down to the parade,” he said. “We made friends with the owner of the gas station at that corner, and my Dad would park his truck, set some wood planks across the bed, and we’d have our own grandstand.”

For the 136th time, the Rose Parade steps off Orange Grove Boulevard with floats, equestrian units, marching bands and performances by singers Kiesza, Aloe Blacc and Debbie Gibson.

Rounds will be there. He has been since he first volunteered to decorate floats, advancing to driving them and now managing 38 float drivers. You may find Rounds riding a golf cart up and down Orange Grove Boulevard on New Year’s Eve, checking on his crew. In the morning, he brings them breakfast (breakfast burritos proved too heavy, so this year, it’s bagels, fruit and energy drinks.)

“I’m born and raised Pasadenan, I love this,” Rounds said.

  • Charlie Chaplin comes to life with flowers on “The Gold Rush” float by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. Hundreds of volunteers filled a warehouse near the Rose Bowl to apply flower petals and seeds to floats for the 136th annual Rose Parade which will take place on January 1st in Pasadena, CA. Every inch of the exposed surface of floats must be covered with flowers or other natural materials which can include bark, seed, and leaves. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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Charlie Chaplin comes to life with flowers on “The Gold Rush” float by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. Hundreds of volunteers filled a warehouse near the Rose Bowl to apply flower petals and seeds to floats for the 136th annual Rose Parade which will take place on January 1st in Pasadena, CA. Every inch of the exposed surface of floats must be covered with flowers or other natural materials which can include bark, seed, and leaves. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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It’s a sentiment echoed by the hundreds of volunteers who help four float building companies decorate the parade’s 39 floats this year. From Pasadena, to Irwindale, Azusa and Sierra Madre, float enthusiasts spend Dec. 26 through Dec. 30 washing vials, drying coconut husks and Pampas grass, cutting raspberries, chopping green peppers, and gluing everything from dried palm leaves, to assorted seeds and rice and flowers onto the rolling flower fests.

Rick Hurt took an Amtrak train from Cypress, Texas, to Los Angeles, arriving at Union Station on Christmas Day and getting right to work decorating the floats. Hurt teaches art to special needs students, “and I’m always trying to find new ideas. Plus, this is really an experience.”

Hurt first signed up to the volunteer corps in the late 1970s, when he came to Rosemont Pavilion as a tourist, and watched volunteers work from a raised scaffold.

“They made an announcement, asking if anybody would like to come down and help decorate. Well, there was no question. That was the best day ever,” he said, winking as he referenced this year’s parade theme.

Hurt, who said he even dresses to coordinate with the parade or float theme, worked on the Illinois float at Phoenix Decorating Company in Irwindale and the City of Torrance float at Rosemont Pavilion in Pasadena.

“People say watching the parade is on their bucket list, and I tell them, you need to come and decorate the floats and see how it really is and appreciate the work that’s done,” he said.

  • Zachary Simon, 66, left, and Rachel Simon, 27, decorate a sign that will sit on the CORE Kidney Foundation float at Phoenix Decorating Company in Irwindale on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

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Zachary Simon, 66, left, and Rachel Simon, 27, decorate a sign that will sit on the CORE Kidney Foundation float at Phoenix Decorating Company in Irwindale on Friday, Dec. 27, 2024. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

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First-time float builders Rachel McCalmont of San Diego, 18 and Madison Medel of Chino, 19, were thrilled they learned how to weld, a useful skill for mechanical engineering students. After the two Cal Poly Pomona students helped build mechanisms on the float to help elements move, they went on to gluing coconut husks and corn silk to a Highland cow figure already covered in coffee grounds, cinnamon and flax seed. It had a seaweed nose.

“Aside from learning all these new skills, and networking with older students, I’ve loved making a lot of new friends here from all majors,” Medel said.

High school freshman Nathan Coleman, 15, invited his friend Landon Sperber, 14, to work on the OneLegacy float. The two woke up at 6:15 a.m. and arrived in Pasadena at 7:30 a.m. from Simi Valley.

Nathan said he’s worked on probably about 10 floats in the five years he and his family have volunteered.

“It’s really cool seeing the making of all these floats, and when you go watch the Rose Parade, it’s really cool to see the work that you did on it. It’s just really fun. My favorite float to work on was a couple of years ago, when we worked on a giant chicken for the UPS Store float and it won an award,” he said.

Landon, rinsing paintbrushes in a bucket, admits it’s hard work, “but it’s worth it. We’re on winter break at school and aside from making music, we don’t have too many big hobbies, so it’s fun to be able to help everyone out.”

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Derek Gutierrez of Fontana pointed to his torn, stained cargo pants, “These are my Rose Float pants,” the veteran decorator said.

Cecile Zimmerman of Pasadena signed up for a seven-hour shift and ended up shooting the breeze with Cal Poly Pomona and San Luis Obispo students as she trimmed the corn husk covering a beaver figure that will ride on the float.

“It’s a fun commitment and time moves by quickly. It’s an amazing thing to do,” she said. “When I’m watching the parade on TV, I’m going to see these beavers and I get to say I worked on that.”

Judy Bonham of Norco is a Golden State ambassador of sorts, recruiting friends from outside California to help decorate floats with her. She’s been at it for 30 years. John Campbell from Topeka, Kansas, said he can finally cross off decorating floats for the Rose Parade off his bucket list.

“It’s wonderful, just wonderful,” he said, bending to glue black onion seeds to the UPS Store float sign. “It’s a lifetime dream. I remember watching the Rose Parade on a black and white TV. I’ve come straight from the airport to here and I’m here until Dec. 30.”

Tom Seal of Lakeview Terrace is a software engineer who’s volunteered at Phoenix Decorating on and off for 20 years. He knows to wear “expendable” clothes (the Oasis floral adhesive is unforgiving), lean into the creativity and intricacy of the work (this year he is creating an ombre effect on a purple butterfly for the Western Asset float) and always appreciate the close-up view one gets of floral masterpieces watched the world over.

There’s still time to join the fun. Float decorating ends on Dec. 30 after which judges do their thing before the Big Day on Jan. 1.

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