PASADENA - In a large barn
across the street from the Rose Bowl, a year's worth of
work is coming to an end as volunteers apply the famous
details to the Rose Parade floats.
On top of the floats' steel skeletons, their chicken wire
features and their fabric skin, thousands of volunteers
are applying the seeds, leaves and flowers that bring the
floats to life.
It's fun, it's interesting - it's hard to really appreciate
the floats until you see them up close," said Vicki
Boyd, a 63-year-old resident of St. Louis, Mo.
Each year, Boyd and her friends travel from Missouri, Michigan
and Maine to join teams of volunteers working seven- and
eight-hour shifts to apply the elaborate decorations, sometimes
one lentil at a time.
I like those (tasks) best because they are detailed,"
Boyd said as she carefully brushed lettuce seed onto the
wheel of the mock Mars Science Laboratory aboard the JPL
float.
"I can just focus on one little patch and zone everything
else out," she said.
On Thursday, the barn - one of two buildings housing the
Phoenix Decorating Company's 19 floats - was buzzing with
noise and activity.
Blenders ran nonstop to produce a shimmering powder of dried
strawflower petals in red, pink, white and yellow. Volunteers
chatted, and the crew chiefs overseeing each float called
out suggestions and advice, keeping an eye on quality control.
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