.png)
MEDIA RELEASE
The South Pasadena Tournament of Roses Committee is excited to share the design for its entry in the 2025 Rose Parade® presented by Honda, upcoming fundraising plans make it possible to bring the design to life.
South Pasadena’s 2025 float design features three aquatic animals on a self-built boat sailing into new adventures. Titled “Seas the Day,” the design reflects the committee’s idea of the “Best Day Ever,” the overall theme of the 2025 Rose Parade®.
Knowing that the best days, and parade floats, are even better with music, the committee is proud to announce “Seas the Day” will be playing Styx’s iconic song “Come Sail Away” as it rolls down Colorado Boulevard on January 1, 2025. The band, songwriter Dennis DeYoung, Joy Murphy from Universal Music Publishing Group, and Mike Crowley, the committee’s music acquisition director, made this possible.
Designed by Renee Hoss-Johnson, the float’s rendering depicts a boat with a sea turtle at the bow, a bike-riding frog at the stern, and a duck at the wheel, making waves on a sea of blue. “‘That’s a lot of blue,’ the Variance committee said when we presented our design concept,” explains Chris Metcalf, the committee’s floral designer responsible for bringing the design to life within the Rose Parade®’s strict guidelines on using natural materials. “Blue is typically challenging to incorporate because there are few floral options. We generally use iris, hydrangea, delphinium, statice, and cornflower. We were always confident we’d rise to the challenge, and we have! I’m excited to share that the committee has already ordered 1,000 bunches of BluOcean chrysanthemums to depict the gentle motion of a leisurely sail. The flowers, which are genetically engineered and naturally blue, will be planted for us by Suntory Flowers and flown in days before Christmas from Japan,” explained Metcalf.
Before the South Pasadena Tournament of Roses committee begins its work to transform “the beast,” as committee president Ed Donnelly describes the float’s underbelly minus the flowers and decorations, into a “colorful beauty,” members of the committee will ride atop the float’s chassis during the Festival of Balloons Parade on Independence Day. The goal of this parade entry is to call attention to just how much work is needed to transform “the beast” into a floral masterpiece ahead of the 136th annual event on January 1, 2025.
In addition to the hours of volunteer labor required to construct the City’s completely self-built float, the committee works tirelessly to raise the nearly $150,000 required to purchase flowers and construction materials each year.
Community members can help with this endeavor by purchasing lawn signs for a $100 donation and trying their luck with a Dunk Tank at the Festival of Balloons at Garfield Park from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on July 4th. SPTOR President Ed Donnelly, Councilmember Jon Primuth, South Pasadena Little League President Alberto Ocon, and retiring Fire Chief Paul Riddle are among the community leaders who have volunteered to be dunked to help SPTOR raise money to build the float. Dunk Tank tickets and lawn signs are available for purchase at www.sptor.org.
Construction of South Pasadena’s float ramps up in mid-July. To inquire about volunteering on the construction crew, email construction@sptor.org . Signups for the “deco” (decoration) squad begin September 15. Visit www.sptor.org for more information.
