Katie FordNow is the time to get involved in Cal Poly’s floral masterpiece: the Rose Parade float. Students and community members of all interests and backgrounds are encouraged to help Cal Poly build its 61st float which will be displayed on Jan 1. in Pasadena.
Assistant float program leader Katie Ford said she wants to promote more student interest in the float, especially for what those involved refer to as ‘Deco Week’ (Dec 25. To Dec. 31), the week before the parade where all of the decorating happens.
“We’d really like to invite students to volunteer and get involved because it’s such a cool thing to be a part of,” Ford said. “It’s really awesome to see this thing go from nothing to this amazing piece of floral beautifulness.”
The theme of the 2009 parade is “Hats Off to Entertainment” and Cal Poly’s float will be called “Seaside Amusement.”
“We’ve decided, instead of doing a typical top-hat, which I’m sure you’ll see plenty of on Jan. 1, (to do) more of a Coney Island or Santa Monica Pier (theme) where it’s a carnival on top of a boardwalk,” said Public Relations Chair Jane Theobald.
A Ferris wheel, roller coaster and bumper cars are among the attractions on the carnival-like float which was designed by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s design chair Shawna Swanson. The design was picked unanimously by committees at both Cal Poly Pamona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Cal Poly’s float relies heavily on donations and volunteers because it has a small budget compared to many professionally built floats that compete in the Rose Parade and cost millions of dollars, Ford said.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Pomona work together each year to build the flowery creation. This year Cal Poly San Luis Obispo built the back half of the float and the drive engine, which moves the float. It was taken down to Pasadena to be joined with Pomona’s half of the float on Oct. 25.
The float is currently in the main construction phase as 60 percent of it needs to be built by Nov. 15 when the Tournament of Roses conducts its first inspection of all floats. Each part is built by students and other volunteers who travel to Pomona every Saturday to continue working once both halves of the float are connected. There is still work to be done including building various mechanisms like the Ferris wheel, foaming sections of the float for flowers and painting it.
“It’s a lot of nitty-gritty work but the road trips make it so much fun,” Theobald said.
For the first time in several years, Cal Poly SLO is growing some of the flowers that will be used on the float. Kelsey Christoffels is the flower field manager and has planted marigolds, mums, and asters in the field, which is weeded by volunteers on Saturdays. These flowers will only make up a small percentage of the total flowers used on “Seaside Amusement” since it is only the first year they have been grown.
The rest of the flowers will come from local growers and the California Cut Flower Commission helps to get donations from all over the state. Every inch of the float must be covered in natural materials including both dried and live plants and flowers.
“Every single live flower that ayou see on (the float) is either part of a basket.or it’s stuck in its own individual vial with water,” Theobald said.
Cal Poly’s float is entirely student-operated. San Luis Obispo and Pomona switch off driving every year, and this year, it is Pomona’s turn. Ford is the observer for the driver meaning she will look to see if anyone accidentally gets in front of the float as it moves.
“Basically I make sure that no little children get run over,” Ford said. “The driver doesn’t usually have amazing visibility.”
Normally, Ford said, the driver and observer are on the inside of the float, but this year they will be visible on top in the bumper cars which is something she thinks Cal Poly has never done before. Each university has an engine operator and there will also be two satellite floats in the form of bumper cars, one driven by each school. The rest of the team will sit on their own bleacher on Colorado Boulevard, the street the parade takes place on.
“Anybody that wants to get involved should send us an e-mail,” Theobald said. “Even if clubs or fraternities and sororities want to help, we’ll see what we can do for them because we need as much help as we can get.”
For more information on how to get involved, email the Rose Float program at rfleaders@asi.calpoly.edu or stop by UU 220 this Thursday at 8 p.m.
“It’s an amazing experience; it’s something that’s really incredible to be involved with,” Ford said. “I’d love to see more Cal Poly students out at Deco Week or hanging out with us at labs. It’s a really neat tradition that Cal Poly has.”