ROSE PARADE FLOAT SOUTH PASADENA | It’s Crunch Time for Crunch Time Party Items

The South Pasadena Tournament of Roses Committee is calling on the community to help support its year-end bash which helps pay for steel and flowers for the city’s float in the Tournament of Roses Parade

RENDERING: Provided by SPTOR | SouthPasadenan.com News | Final design for South Pasadena's 2022 Rose Parade float, 'Sky's the Limit'

Not bashful, Brant Dunlap is asking for help.

With less that two months before the year-end event, which traditionally brings in top dollars, Dunlap, the president of the South Pasadena Tournament of Roses committee, is seeking support from the community for its annual Crunch Time Party.

The big bash, a huge fundraiser which typically raises between $30,000 to $40,000 to pay for steel and flowers for the city’s float in the New Year’s Day parade down Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, was held online a year ago on account of COVID. In prior years, it has been held live, filling the town’s War Memorial Building, where float supporters dined and bid on both silent and live auction items late into a December night.

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“We are planning for our annual Crunch Time Party,” assured Dunlap. “Our hope is a combination – in person like we always do, coupled with another on-line auction like last year.”

Over the past few years, a small group of highly dedicated committee members have been knocking on the doors of local businesses, collecting upwards of 200 items for the Crunch Time Party auction.

FILE PHOTO: Bill Glazier | SouthPasadenan.com News | Brant Dunlap, left, and his Daughter, Courtney, have combined to work on the city’s float for 36 years

This year, Dunlap is asking all his committee members to reach out to local businesses to donate items, but taking it one step further he’s making a call to residents and friends in the community to also pitch in and lend a hand.

While restaurant owners are being asked to provide a gift certificate for a meal at a local eatery, other merchants are encouraged to provide a gift or two that can find their way into the hands of the highest bidder. Dunlap suggested residents might personally know a proprietor they could call on to support South Pasadena’s float. “We’re looking for a wide assortment of items, from dinners, stays at cabins in the mountains, lodging at places all over the place, to services like helicopters rides, amusement park tickets, almost anything – the sky’s the limit,” he said. “The list is boundless. We simply could use the support from the community for Crunch items.”

“Sky’s the Limit” just happens to be the name of South Pasadena’s latest float entry featuring a mountain full of raccoons and Ostriches – one, wearing a scarf and goggles, set to blast off.

FILE PHOTO: Eric Fabbro | SouthPasadenan.com News | About 200 guests turned out for Sunday’s Crunch Time Party at the War Memorial Building in 2019

A team of volunteers is currently working on South Pasadena’s float behind the War Memorial Building in the 400 block of Fair Oaks Avenue. Work crews are on site a couple of weekdays and throughout much of the weekend, and always welcome the public’s support.

Individuals wanting to donate an item to the Crunch Time Party, slated for December 29, can reach out to Brant Dunlap at bdviking@aol.com and the event chair, Wende Lee, at wendelee323@gmail.com.