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Ed Donnelly seemingly gave Tournament of Roses officials some bad news Sunday morning upon their arrival at South Pasadena’s float site behind the War Memorial Building in the 400 block of Fair Oaks Avenue in the city.
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Donnelly, chair of the South Pasadena Tournament of Roses (SPTOR) Committee, was waiting in front of the town’s latest float when the team of TOR judges unloaded from a huge van and witnessed what hundreds of volunteers over the course of the past year had constructed and decorated.
Standing next to a rendering of the float, the judges gathered around him as Donnelly quietly said, “I have to warn you, our entire team of volunteers came down with a fever last night – Boogie Fever!”
Laughter broke out among the judges, recognizing the name of South Pasadena’s 2024 float is “Boogie fever.”
Donnelly went onto say, “The only cure is flowers!”
Oh my, in view of the judges were plenty of them, thousands in fact, that proved to be the perfect remedy.
It was indeed a clever way to introduce the judges to the city’s floral masterpiece that will take the 5 1/2-mile ride down Pasadena’s Colorado Boulevard in the 135th spectacle Monday.
“Once again like they have for over 100 years our community has come together to design, build and decorate this float all on our own,” said Donnelly. “When I say ‘all on our own,’ it also means our friends from Germany, Russia, Iowa, South Carolina, North Carolina and Kansas.”
Donnelly is grateful for the support of so many from around the country and world for pitching in to what was a simple concept back in January to reality today.
As the judges stood in awe, taking in the detail of the float, carefully writing down notes, and admiring the variety of roses and flowers, Donnelly introduced his flock of friends on board, pointing out all the characters had names.
There was “Gertie” the giraffe, “Franklin” the elephant, “Fruitloop” the toucan, “Cecil” the snake and “Archie” the orangutan.
Seconds later, the lively sounds of “Boogie Fever,” a 1970s hit by the Sylvers filled the air.
The float captures the animals playing musical instruments after placing the Sylvers’ record on a turntable that has dropped from a cargo plane into the rain forest.
Seeing the float, one of the judges was heard to say, “Wow!”
Following a five minute inspection of the float, another judge rang a bell indicating it was time to wrap up, finish the task and leave for the next destination. South Pasadena was just the first stop in a list of many.
Exiting, the judges applauded the work of South Pasadena’s all volunteer workforce, a large group of them standing behind barriers returning the praise, rejoicing, clapping and letting out a loud ovation, recognizing their hard work was appreciated.
When the judges departed, the weary workers, some displaying tears of joy, got together for a picture before uncorking champagne bottles to celebrate the float’s completion.
In the end, smiles, laughter and, mostly acknowledgment that a job well done, were in abundance.
“I think our volunteers and all their hard work is right there on the float,” said Donnelly. “Every single flower, every petal, every seed, every piece of grass was placed by somebody’s hands. It’s apparent everywhere on the float. The detail is amazing. Our volunteers did a fantastic job!”
One of the aspects of guiding the process for Donnelly during his first year at the helm was seeing the float going from a sketch to a finalized design, to larger than life characters “riding high and riding proud,” he said.
Ahead of the judges arrival at 7:52 a.m. Sunday morning, workers had pulled an all-nighter to make it happen. “We’re all proud of the hard work we put into it,” said Donnelly.
Larry Chiles, the volunteer chair for the SPTOR, busy checking in the myriad of helpers down the stretch, estimates between 500 to 700 workers chipped into the float in the final days leading up to the parade.
On Saturday into Sunday morning, up until 2:30 a.m., Donnelly said about 50 people put in time, with that number dwindling to around 25 in the end.
“At that point there’s only so much room to work on the float, and it’s an extraordinary ask to ask someone to stay up all night to work on the float,” he added.
Past SPTOR Chair Brant Dunlap, now part of the construction crew, said the finished product “is amazing. The colors on this float are brighter than we’ve ever had. We have some exotic flowers. It’s just a beautiful floral design. We always say, ‘If you look at a float and in less than five seconds you smile, then we did a good job.”
Among those staying up all night to work on the float was South Pasadena Mayor Evelyn Zneimer.
She did it all, applying seeds, painting, placing flowers and even worked in the souvenir booth where SPTOR merchandise is sold.
“I’m beat up,” she joked, flashing a friendly smile. “I think our float looks just gorgeous! It’s been a labor of love. It’s breathtaking.”
Overnight, she said it went “from almost being bare to an explosion of flowers! It’s just so wonderful, it looks great.”
Organizers hold off until the bitter end, crunch time as they call it, to apply the thousands of flowers in order to keep them their freshest.
“I’m just so proud to represent my city and be a part of it,” noted the mayor.
“I’m just so proud to represent my city and be a part of it,” noted the mayor. 
