The Tournament of Roses Parade-- Part 1

From the Dec. 29-Jan. 4, 2014, American Profile Magazine by Marti Attoun.

Kelly Roberts, 44, of Downey, California, has a 25-year passion about this parade of all parades, and that is to design, build, decorate and drive floats for his city in the 125-year-old Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena.

Downey, California, has been in the parade since 1955.

The theme of this year's parade is "Dreams Come True" and Downey's entry is a Cinderella glass-slipper. Walnuts were ground up to create wood-like railings, crushed poppy seeds to color a water fountain and fresh orchids to resemble falling water and dazzling scroll-work from 15,000 fresh pink, red and yellow roses. I'll sure be looking for this one.

Through the decades, the highly decorated carriages and wagons have been replaced by huge mechanized and animated floats, most built by professional parade companies like the Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale, California. Most floats are 55-feet long, but in 2011, there was one 120-feet long that featured a 6,600 wave pool. It had to be specially built to maneuver around street corners.

Always One Impressive Parade. --DaCoot