Charles Meier, creative director of Paradiso Parade Floats, prepares San Gabriel’s entry for the 124th Tournament of Roses Parade – Photo by Jim E. Winburn
San Gabriel will participate in the parade for the first time in 40 years, but according to City Manager Steven A. Preston, the reason has not been for a lack of community spirit or civic pride.
“It’s not because the city didn’t want to have one,” Preston said, “but because they couldn’t afford to have one.”
Preston said the city’s float, more than two years in the making, cost $150,000 to build, not counting the $5,000 entry fee to participate in the Tournament of Roses. What’s really inspiring is that the money was fully raised by community sponsors and individual donors – not city funding.
He attributes the infusion of generosity to “a dream percolating in a big segment of our community for many years, want(ing) to have another bite of the apple, another chance to participate in that grand floral festival.”
San Gabriel Mayor Kevin B. Sawkins practices his parade wave aboard the city’s nearly-ready float entry for the 124th Tournament of Roses Parade – Photo by Jim E. Winburn
According to Sawkins, the float carries with it into the New Year the regional significance of ‘Celebrating Our Journey’ for the city.
“It means a lot to us because it shares with the world San Gabriel’s place in history: a place in Southern California history and how our history is unique,” he said. “We are really the birthplace of the L.A. region; it’s an opportunity for us to have community pride and be proud of our history and heritage, as well as the diversity of our present community.”
The mayor, too, is delighted with the generous efforts of many donors and sponsors from the community that have made the float possible.
“We were really committed to doing it without city funds. So instead of city tax dollars, we wanted to have it supported entirely by the community – community organizations, residents and businesses,” Sawkins said at a VIP reception held in the Rose Float Decorating Tent at the Rose Bowl on Thursday evening. The special event was held in appreciation of those sponsors who donated $1,000 or more toward the city’s float.
Vice Mayor Mario De La Torre, who chaired the Sponsorship Committee, headed the efforts to raise the necessary funds to hire Paradiso Parade Floats to design and build the city’s float.
Athens Services was the top contributor at $25,000, matching dollar for dollar donated from their customers until they ultimately raised $50,000 in total.
Other sponsors include Airstream Los Angeles and Hilton Hotel at $20,000 each, while AHMC San Gabriel Medical Center LP, Citizens Business Bank, San Gabriel Community Foundation and Southern California Edison each contributed $5,000.
The Centennial Celebration page on the city’s website at www.sangabrielcity.com lists the many other individuals who donated money to the city’s float.
According to Preston, the Float Committee, co-chaired by Parks and Recreation Director Rebecca Perez and San Gabriel resident Pam Petievich, pulled the whole project together by organizing nearly 100 volunteers working on different tasks. They made the critical decision to go with Paradiso Parade Floats, headed up by Creative Director Charles Meier.
“We took ideas from many people’s designs and showed them to Charlie,” said Petievich, explaining how the citywide float design contest was a learning experience for the committee itself. “It really has to have a (distinct) theme, and you’ve got to stick with that theme.”
Petievich said they finally decided on a ‘Going to Market’ type of theme in response to the Rose Parade’s theme, ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go.’
The San Gabriel float features oxen pulling a cart that is overflowing with grapes, Tongva-patterned baskets filled with colorful arrangements of flowers and produce, and a surrounding floral landscape framed by the Spanish-styled architecture of the city’s Grapevine Arbor.
Gwen Robertson, who is liaison to both the float’s sponsors as well as its volunteers, said they currently have three shifts of volunteers working on the float – with nearly 45 volunteers per shift.
“When you work with communities, you want the community to be part of it, especially when you have a grassroots organization like this,” said Robertson.
She said the biggest challenge is yet to come – 15,000 individual roses. “You can’t get them until about December 27th,” Robertson said. “And you can’t prepare them until about the 28th – at the earliest. You have to individually cut them, individually vile them, and then they have to be individually put onto the float. It’s incredibly labor intensive.”
The remaining dates to help decorate San Gabriel’s float are from Wednesday, Dec. 26 to Sunday, Dec. 30. There are volunteer opportunities for youth and adults, ages 12 and over.
For more information, please email the volunteer coordinator at [email protected] or call the Parks and Recreation Department at (626) 308-2875. The float decorating location is at the Rose Bowl, corner of North Arroyo Boulevard and Seco Street, Parking Lot I, in Pasadena.
For upcoming information on San Gabriel’s Centennial Celebration, visit www.sangabriel100.com.
