Hats Off to Entertainment of New Years Memories

For me growing up in Southern California, New Years day means the most spectacular parade of them all...The Rose Parade. Today marked the 120th Rose Parade under the theme of Hats Off to Entertainment. When I think back to all the New Years I've experienced in my lifetime, the most memorable are those New Years that I went to the Rose Parade as a child. The week before the parade, I remember the grocery store checkouts all had the official programs for the Tournament of Roses parade and bowl game, complete with parade line-up, information on the colleges playing, and the Rose queen and her court. I always wanted to be a Rose Parade princess except I lived in the San Fernando Valley and the girls selected as part of the court were in high school and not in elementary school, and lived in Pasadena or bordering suburbs, like the affluent area of La Canada (not pronounced like the country but like can, long a- as in ah, da). I loved everything about the parade...if I wasn't part of the court, I wanted to on a float itself, waving and beautiful to the crowd.

Some years my family bought tickets to the parade and sat in the stands (corner of Orange Grove and Colorado, if I can remember correctly and my first actual memory of this is when John Wayne was the Grand Marshall). But the years, I remember the most, are being about 10-11 years old and camping out the night before on the lawn in a residential neighborhood at the start of the parade route. We would leave about 2 a.m from our home, me, my best friend Terri and my older teenage siblings and possibly an extra friend or two. Once in Pasadena an hour later, we would find our spot (no potential sleeping mind you), set up camp and then mingle with the crowd and walk down the line-up of floats. Yes, they line up these floats and the test them in the wee hours of the morning. (To fill in a small clarification, the parade officially starts at 8:15 a.m. pst., not 10 as its broadcast in Texas) What I specifically remember is the excitement and everyone in a caring and jovial mood. I was a kid and carried no fear even with no parents around. This was the 70s but non-idyllic things still happened then. There was from time to time a report or two about localized trouble in the rougher parts of Pasadena toward the end of the parade route but we were far away from that area. I just remember the happiness and no clear-cut divisions in terms of race, religion, gender, age....people were just having fun and excited. A commonality. I will never forget this one policeman playing frisbee with the crowd. And, you have seen the true beauty of this parade until you see it in person. The crisp and vibrant colors of the flora and fauna, detail and animation of the floats, not to mention the horses and riders in elaborate costumes and the marching bands. Too much for words to accurately express.

This morning, the first day of 2009, the 120th Tournament of Roses Parade, the headline that I awoke to read, Parade still takes place in spite of recession. I thought to myself, "What, what"...I had a friend tell me today that in 2009, she hopes we can see the miracles around us as they happen instead of in hindsight. The miracles today in terms of this parade...the farmers and flower growers who received revenue, the shipping people who had to ship the flowers and seeds, the engineers, the hundreds of people who spent upwards toward 13 plus hours coming together to build these floats so that others may have joy and beauty on their New Years morning in this grand tradition.
Here's to 2009, a year full of miracles....