Photo: Prayitno / Thank you for (12 millions +) view from Los Angeles, USA / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
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Clarion’s Karen Weld rang in 2016 with flowers. She and two of her sisters, Jill Murray of Burnsville, Minnesota, and Eileen Zirbel of Rochester, Minnesota, worked as volunteers on the Dole fruit float in the Rose Parade in Pasadena.
It started when Murray took a week-long flower arranging class from a nationally known florist, who encouraged her to apply. Murray made contacts in April, and in early fall the sisters learned they had been accepted.
They worked at the Fiesta Floats warehouse on Dec. 29 and 30, about six hours the first day and ten the second. The building housed 11 floats, 10 of them competing for awards. Every exposed surface on a Rose Parade float has to be covered in natural plant material. Dole’s float had a jungle theme, so there were macaws, tigers and elephants to cover in dried plant matter.
There are only so many spots for novices, with most of the work done by volunteer florists from around the country. Weld said it was fun watching the floats take shape. Their float won the Director’s Award.
Kim Sanders writes for Clarion News Online.