PASADENA - Under a cloudless sky, the 123rd Rose Parade strutted its stuff along Colorado Boulevard Monday, entertaining the crowds with high-energy marching bands, precision equestrian units and floral floats with flying pigs, surfing bulldogs, smoke-breathing dragons and a tribute to the late Elizabeth Taylor.
"It was everything we hoped for - it exceeded it," said Lynn Pien, of Woodbury, Minn., who was making her first Rose Parade visit. "My favorite was the Marine Corps Band and the flying pigs" on the award-winning La Canada Flintridge float.
After years of watching the parade on TV, Pien said she and her husband, a Wisconsin alumnus, decided to celebrate two milestones: 30 years of marriage and the last college
tuition payment for their third son.
"Out son graduated in December - and we went to the Rose Bowl," Mike Pien joked. "It was a lifelong dream."
Many lining the street at the start of the 5.5-mile parade route said having the parade on Jan. 2 didn't affect the holiday atmosphere. Just 10 arrests, including four for drunkenness, were reported overnight.
"The crowds were more family-oriented," Pasadena Police spokeswoman Phlunte Riddle said just before the parade started. Arrests were down in comparison to previous years, she said.
To keeps tabs on the "Occupy" movement protestors who followed the parade as planned, a platoon from the L.A. County Sheriff's Response Team tailed them along Colorado - many of the team members getting in the spirit by posing for photographs on the four vehicles before heading off.
Chanting protestors, who joined the regular "You Still Need Jesus" sign-carriers at the end of the parade, seemed in a festive mood. To a jazz band accompaniment, marchers appeared to be making their point with humor.
"I'm a job-creator," read one sign, carried by a group in yachting togs, tops hats and evening gowns. "Just ask my servants."
The real Rose Parade royalty, a beaming Queen Drew Washington in white and the six Rose Princesses in deep blue, had the regal wave down pat. Parade Grand Marshal J.R. Martinez also drew cheers and applause as he rode in an open 1933 V-16 Cadillac with his mother, Maria, and girlfriend Diana Jones.
There were more cheers for the spectacular moves some of the 21 marching bands made, wheeling around the 90-degree turn from Orange Grove Boulevard on to Colorado.
The hometown Arcadia High School Apaches almost landed in the ground-level spectators' laps as part of their precision turn, and the high-stepping University of Wisconsin band's maneuver was almost upstaged by the first Rose Parade appearance of the Kyoto Tachibana High School Green Band from Japan.
The 142 band-members took the corner at the run, bringing many in the crowd to their feet.
In a nod to Tournament of Roses President Rick Jackson's Swedish heritage, his car was preceded by the 75-member Royal Swedish Navy Cadet Band from Karlskrona.
Equestrian units included some favorites, such as the Broken Horn Ropers, who performed lasso tricks along the route, the Hermanos Banuelos Charro Team and the War Horse Foundation, whose members were dressed in cavalry uniforms from the Napoleonic era. First-timers included the Escondido Mounted Posse - whose horses' tails were ringed with sunflowers - and the Cowgirls Historical Foundation.
One rider from the 100-member Palominos on Parade group was thrown at the corner of Orange Grove and Colorado and another horse from the group decided to cut out at the turn, but no injuries were reported, according to TofR officials.
Only one float, "The Dream Believers" sponsored by the Discover Card, had to be towed, officials said.
Among the crowd favorites were the "Preserving Paradise" float by Dole, which won the Sweepstakes Trophy, the "Our Champion" tribute to Elizabeth Taylor from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and China Airlines "Spirit of Prosperity and Harmony, with a smoke-breathing dragon.
The 116-foot "Surf's Up" float By Natural Balance was probably the big crowd-pleaser, as Tillman the skateboarding bulldog and friends surfed the waves on an 80-foot stretch of water - with only a couple of wipe-outs.
The parade was spectacular, but this year's floats were a little short on animation and special effects, parade regular Bobby Herbeck of Long Beach said.
But at least one Oregon fan, Jeremy Shumacher from Portland found his first Rose Parade pretty impressive.
"It was beautiful," he said, before heading to the Rose Bowl. "Surfing dogs - come on!"
janette.williams@sgvn.com 626-578-6300, ext. 4482
Sweepstakes Trophy for most beautiful entry:
Dole, "Preserving Paradise"
Animation Trophy for best display of animation:
Farmers Insurance Group, "The Unimaginable"
Craftsman Trophy for outstanding showmanship and dramatic impact more than 55 feet in length:
Trader Joe's, "Hot Lava"
Crown City Innovation Trophy for Best use of imagination and innovation to advance the art of float design:
City of Los Angeles, "Dinosaurs in L.A.'s Backyard"
Directors' Trophy Honoring Jacob Maarse for outstanding artistic merit in design and floral presentation:
Bayer Advanced, "Garden of Imagination"
Extraordinaire Trophy for most spectacular entry including floats that cannot retract to 55 feet in length:
Natural Balance Pet Foods Inc., "Surf's Up"
Fantasy Trophy for best display of fantasy and imagination:
City of South Pasadena, "When Life Gives You Lemons"
Founders' Trophy for most beautiful entry built and decorated by volunteers from the sponsoring community or organization:
Downey Rose Float Association, "Enchanted Paradise"
Governor's Trophy for Best depiction of life in California:
City of Torrance, "Looking Back, Moving Forward"
Grand Marshal's Trophy for most creative concept and design:
Discover Card, "The Dream Believers"
Bob Hope Humor Trophy for most comical and amusing:
La Canada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association, "If Pigs Could Fly"
International Trophy for most beautiful entry from outside the United States:
China Airlines, "Spirit of Prosperity and Harmony"
Isabella Coleman Trophy for best presentation of color and color harmony:
Odd Fellows & Rebekahs, "Shining Knights Still Exist"
Judges' Special Trophy for outstanding showmanship and dramatic impact:
Donate Life, "?One More Day"
Lathrop K. Leishman Trophy for most beautiful entry from a non-commercial sponsor:
Kaiser Permanente, "Every Body Walk"
Mayor's Trophy for Most outstanding city entry:
Burbank Tournament of Roses Association, "The Dream Machine"
National Trophy for Best depiction of life in the United States:
Western Asset Management, "Imagine in America"
Past Presidents' Trophy for most innovative use of both floral and non floral materials:
Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles, "100 Years of Girls Scouts - What Will You Do Today"
Princesses' Trophy most beautiful entry under 35 feet in length:
Rotary International, "Inching Towards the End of Polio"
Queen's Trophy for best use of roses:
AIDS Healthcare Foundation, "Our Champion"
Theme Trophy for best presentation of the Rose Parade theme:
US Bank, "Idea Factory"
Tournament Special Trophy for exceptional merit in multiple classifications:
RFD-TV, "Happy Trails"
Tournament Volunteers' Trophy for best floral design of parade theme under 35 feet in length:
Shriners Hospitals for Children, "Soaring for Kids"
The Cal Poly Universities' "To the Rescue" float got high visibility as the sixth entry in the parade. Cal Poly Universities' float is classified as self-built, one in five to get that designation. The entry is the only one produced solely by students and alumni. The two campuses have been submitting entries in the parade since 1949 and have won several awards.
- Source: CBS
Source: http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_19661075?source=rss_viewed
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