As the year comes to a close, many residents of La Cañada Flintridge and beyond are spending their days volunteering during deco week for the LCF Rose Parade Float.
With its 1960s themed school bus entitled “Flower Power,” the LCF Tournament of Roses Association is putting on the finishing touches and final preparations on the float ahead of its journey down the Rose Parade route on New Year’s Day.
Deco week, Dec. 23 through Dec. 31, gives the community the chance to be a part of the process of making the float shine through flowers and dry goods.
Just last week, the association experienced some slight delays due to the rain, which put them behind schedule.
“The rain put us a week and three days behind,” President Ernest Koeppen told the Outlook Valley Sun. “Another day of rain or two would have been annoying, and dangerous. But we were able to get what we need done and get it under the bridge.”
The bus itself is done, according to Koeppen, who explained that the construction deadline was on Christmas Eve.
“We haven’t been this far complete under the bridge for a long time,” said Koeppen. “We had a perfect T2 two weeks ago that was flawless, and we haven’t had that in a long time either.”
Koeppen said that many people are showing up and getting the word out to help decorate the float.
“We’ve got at least three new families who are going to be here for a long time because the kids are as happy as the parents, which is perfect,” said Koeppen. “This is a real family affair and a bunch of community engagement.”
Koeppen, who loves to be innovative and break boundaries, says he looks forward to having a series of songs playing throughout the route instead of a single song looping every 30 seconds.
“We got about 14 songs to play through, so everyone’s going to see a show,” said Koeppen.
Over the last four weeks, Koeppen worked with Caltrans, hoping to transport the float on New Year’s Eve for judging on the freeway rather than through sidestreets due to the float’s dimensions.
Despite getting close, the permit ultimately did not come through, according to Koeppen.
“We will have a super tow, four sheriff escorts, plus our lead and follow vehicles, and lots of lights,” he added.
Decorating Chair Jennifer Lazo is one of the key players managing volunteers and making sure deco week runs smoothly.
Originally an LCF resident, Lazo started volunteering for the association when she was 13 years old and has since grown a passion for the float.
“This is my 24th year on the float,” said Lazo. “I started just as a decorator, and when I was growing up in La Cañada, my parents would bring us to come see [the float].”
Through her years, she has learned a lot that she can apply in her day job as an emergency manager who focuses on natural disasters and public safety.
Although Lazo now lives in Pasadena, her mother is still a resident in LCF and she doesn’t see herself stepping away from float decorating.
Lazo said that this year, the association will have 1,400 volunteers tasked with decorating. The volunteers will pick up shifts that take place during the morning, afternoon or evening.
From now until Dec. 31, volunteers will be gluing dry goods and placing flowers. This year, the association is mostly using cranberry seeds, black beans, white beans and lentils, to name a few.
Flowers on the float will include 37,000 various colored roses, 8,000 irises, 3,600 dianthuses, 1,400 carnations and 900 mums.
“We’re using a bunch of shades of roses to give it that tie-dye effect,” said Lazo.
“We’ve been working on figuring out what thing goes where since July, but we couldn’t do the final order until two weeks ago,” Lazo added. “So, it’s a whole process of figuring out how it all goes together.”
When she started volunteering, children under the age of 13 could not volunteer to decorate and the association has since changed that rule as long as parents are with them.
Scott Norton and his family from Ventura County have been coming to help with the LCF float for about 10 years now.
“We first started doing it about 10 years ago, and this was the only location that will let my daughter do it because she was so young, and we’ve just stayed with it ever since,” said Norton.
He and his family have signed up for three days and have started helping by gluing cranberry seeds on the flower’s petals.
“People are very nice,” said Norton. “You get to have an impact on it because your part of it, and it’s always fun to be at home watching the parade, and to be able to point to things that you’ve worked on.”
Judging for the float will take place on New Year’s Eve and those who are interested in volunteering can show up to the float site and see if more volunteers are needed.
First published in the December 28 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
