PASADENA ? The theme of a very warm 123rd Tournament of Roses Parade was "Just Imagine ..." Several floats zipped into the future with planets spinning, aliens dancing and robots towering above tens of thousands who lined Orange Grove and Colorado boulevards.
And yet, nostalgia ruled on Monday. The most prominent float involving Orange County, the first one ever offered by the company that makes Kit-Cat clocks, featured jitterbugging couples in bobby sox and skaters leaping from float to pavement and back.
Fans watch as the Western Asset float titled "Imagine in America" passes during the 123rd Rose Parade in Pasadena on Monday. The 40-foot float depicts a "tree of heroes" topped with an American bald eagle.
PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
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The last big float of the two-hour parade featured one of the great cultural icons of the West ? Trigger, the trusted palomino owned by Roy Rogers. Trigger appeared with Rogers and wife Dale Evans in several of their movies and on TV, and when the horse died in 1965, Rogers had him stuffed. So that was Trigger's real hide on display aboard the Rural Free Delivery TV float, which honored Rogers' 100th birthday. Trigger, rearing on his hind legs, stood next to Bullet, the stuffed version of Rogers' beloved German Shepherd.
The big question all week was whether protesters from disparate Occupy movements would disrupt the parade. Two hours before the 8 a.m. start, a cluster of demonstrators held a banner that read "Corporate money out of politics. Now." A man handed out free newspapers. But most protestors seemed to be gathering at nearby Singer Park to gear up for a post-parade march along the parade route.
That procession went off without incident, although some parade-goers near the starting area complained that exits were clogged by armored vehicles carrying sheriff's deputies in riot gear, brought in to accompany the march. "One percent this way!" one man joked, gesturing down a path that led to the porta-potties.
Hundreds of protesters forming a "human float" made their way down Colorado, shouting and carrying signs. Some held aloft ragtag tents made from garbage bags to form the "human float" -- an octopus symbolizing how the tentacles of capitalism are wrapped around ordinary people.
Near the back of the procession, tension grew between a couple of Occupy protesters and a religious group, one of whom wore a T-shirt that read "Turn to Jesus or burn in hell." Spectators still in the stands snapped photos and heckled the protesters, and although some did express support, the biggest cheers were for the riot-gear deputies.
Those who camp out along the parade group know the event goes on rain or shine, in frigid weather or warm, and this was definitely a sweltering one. By 9 a.m. the sun bore down, and patrons sitting in the north bleachers had shed sweatshirts and stocking caps. By 1 p.m. it was 82.
The Soucey family, from Buena Park, arrived at 7 a.m. Sunday to stake out their spot on the sidewalk near Colorado and St. John Avenue. (The parade fell on Monday, Jan. 2, this year because of its "Never on a Sunday" policy that dates to 1893.) Paul Soucey, 64, showed off his Coleman three-burner stove, two space heaters (each with a five-gallon propane tank), cots and loads of food that got him, his wife Mary, daughter Sarah and their neighbors through a dull but not-too-chilly night.
"We're professional parade-goers, so we're going to be comfortable and we're going to be well-fed," said Paul, pointing to a pan on the green stove filled with corned beef hash. He's been coming to the parade with his daughter for all of her 29 years. He and Mary got married beneath a makeshift trellis in the wee hours before the parade three years ago.
Among the Orange County participants in the parade was Nicholas Blakely, 17, of North Tustin. The Foothill High School senior has Hodgkin's Disease, and he was selected to ride on the Kaiser Permanente float ? a giant green caterpillar. "It was fun," he said by phone later. "There were more people here than I thought, and it went on longer than I thought."
Despite spending hours in the morning heat, Blakely said he felt good. Later this week he'll learn the results of tests that will tell him whether his cancer has gone into remission or not.
Some of the floats were spectacular, with the gorgeous floral patterns and animated moving parts parade fans have come to expect.
The Sweepstakes Trophy went to the Dole float, "Preserving Paradise," a lush, waterfall-laden tip of the cap to Thailand's efforts to preserve wildlife. Other highlights included the Trader Joe's float, a children's wagon transformed into a pirate ship, complete with a broomhandle for a mast and clothes for sails. Paramount Pictures wished itself a happy 100th birthday with a float that featured both a Transformers robot and the Starship Enterprise ? bookends of sci-fi entertainment.
The Farmers Insurance Group float put an interesting twist on the theme with its float called "The Unimaginable." A constellation of threats ? tornado, storm cloud, flying piano ? orbited a cozy house, while elsewhere, a section of highway lifted out of place.
The Kit-Kat Clock float marked 80 years for the iconic goggly-eyed clock, which is built in Fountain Valley. Ten skaters -- four from Street Surfing, a sister company of Kit-Cat, and six from the O.C. Skate League -- performed tricks on and around the float for all 5.5 miles of the route. They rode FIZZ boards, which look like the slender 27-inch "banana boards" of the '70s.
"We were panting after the first block," said Brandon Yamawaki, who heads the skate team for Street Surfing and is from Newport Beach. "The crowd and the energy really kept us going."
Among the 21 marching bands, the kids from the Los Angeles Unified School District hit it out of the park with a blazing, blaring rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground."
Amid all the floats filled with rocket ships, video games (the Kinect for Xbox 360 console, and a new Power Rangers game ... remember them?), some of the most charming attractions were the beautiful horses that clipped and clopped down the street. They pranced and strutted, and only one got spooked and went astray: A palomino, part of the Roy Rogers 100th Anniversary Riders, bolted toward a small bleacher. No one was injured.
"He kicked my leg, but I'm all right," said Patricia Hall of Oakland.
Contact the writer: lhall@ocregister.com, @landonhall
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Source: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/parade-333873-float-one.html
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