Gearing Up for Another Rose Parade

Rick at Fiesta Floats in Irwindale, CA

As we approach New Year's Day, workers and volunteers at Fiesta Floats in Irwindale, CA are busy decorating floats for the 124th Annual Rose Parade.  Among those is the Natural Balance Pet float! This year, the theme of our float is "Canines With Courage", as we salute and give recognition to the brave canine members of America’s armed forces that so gallantly serve our nation with this patriotic salute honoring their loyal service and heroism.

The float will feature a floral replica of a new bronze and granite National Monument to Military Working Dog Teams, which will be dedicated in 2013 at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. This is the first time in the history of the United States military that an animal, a dog, has been elevated to National Monument status by U.S. Congressional Law, and Natural Balance is proud to make this the feature of our float.

Our floats have become famous for the incredible record-breaking designs, floral beauty and of course the fun with Tillman the skateboarding bulldog, and his canine friends. This year's float isn't intended to break any Guinness World records as heaviest or longest, but it will be big on pride for our Military Working Dog Heroes. Tillman will be on the float this year, as an honorary Marine, but he wont be performing. Instead he will be helping raise awareness about these incredible Canine Heroes.

As you can see from this photo at right, the float is still being decorated. Remember that as part of the Rose Parade regulations, the decorations covering the floats need to be floral or plant material. All the colors and textures will be derived from flowers, seeds, petals, etc. For example, the round wood circle at the front is waiting for the decorative panel that will be applied. While I was there, that panel was being decorated by a volunteer. It is painstaking work, with incredible detail that isn't immediately obvious when viewing the floats from afar or on television.

At left is that front panel I mentioned above. It will be applied to the front of our float. Notice the incredible vivid colors....those are all from flowers or seeds, not paint!

The workers use an adhesive glue and place the seeds or flower petals by hand. This artistic design on the emblem models the emblem that corresponds to the actual monument.
To give you an idea of the detail click on this photo to enlarge it. Here is another photo below of some roses with an off white border...which I believe was rice (I could be wrong), but look at the photo for yourself to see.s

 You can watch the Rose Parade on TV January 1st, check local listings for times. If you participate in social media, follow along on Twitter searching for the hashtags #RosePets and #RoseParade, or on Facebook with Natural Balance or Petco or me!