Final Preparations Underway For 131st Rose Parade in Pasadena
PASADENA (CBSLA) — With just five days until the Tournament of Roses, thousands of volunteers were making every moment count Friday as they put the finishing touches on this year's spectacular slate of floats for the big parade.
Volunteers spent the days after Christmas cutting, pasting and climbing at float central where nearly 1,500 of them came out to help in the all-important organic material attachment phase. From blue-tinted coconut macaroons to almonds covered in flaxseed, the volunteers spared no detail.
"It will be covered by the end of the night," Candy Tippetts, a first-time volunteer from Utah said of a school bus on one float.
Another volunteer from Detroit, Randee Adler, came with her sister, Cindy Adler, from Chicago.
"My sister and I love to volunteer and travel," Randee said. "This was on our bucket list, and here we are."
The duo were the ones tasked with covering the almonds.
"We're already having fun," Cindy said.
Not having fun yet were businesses along Colorado Boulevard in Old Town Pasadena, who said they were seeing a lack of fans for the game.
"Normally at this time of year, you see everyone with their shirts, their hats," Skyler Ray, who works in Pasadena, said.
But there was hardly an Oregon or Wisconsin fan to be seen Friday afternoon, though the Rose Bowl game was a mere five days away.
"Go ducks," Jim Sherwin, and Oregon fan, said.
Though Sherwin and his family were not even in town for the game. They were there for a wedding and would head back to Portland, Oregon before the New Year's Day game.
The 131st Rose Parade boasts 39 float entries and will begin at 8 a.m. Jan. 1.