October 17, 2007
For Immediate Release
Contact: Breana Dixon
(805) 674-8238
Cal Poly Rose Float Goes South for the Winter Thursday
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- As part of an annual tradition, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s half of the Cal Poly Universities Rose Float will be loaded onto a semi-truck flatbed Thursday at 10 a.m. and transported from the SLO Rose Float lab, Building 50L, to Pomona’s Rose Float lab on Saturday, October 20.
Every year each campus is responsible for a half of the frame (front or back) and one of the two engines (drive or animation). The two parts are connected at the end of October-- just in time for the first technical inspection, conducted by the Tournament of Roses official float mechanics. Four such inspections for the Cal Poly float take place before the parade.
This year’s float, titled “Guardians of Harmony,” is a tribute to the mythical tradition of China. A majestic phoenix soars above the mountain peaks as a red and gold Chinese emperor dragon hovers protectively over a peaceful garden and koi pond. The Great Wall wraps around the float as a three-tier waterfall, utilizing real water, cascades down from the mountains. The concept for this scene was inspired by this year’s parade theme “Passport to the World’s Celebrations.”
The first Cal Poly University Rose Float rolled down the annual Tournament of Roses parade route on January 1, 1949; we’ve been rolling year-round ever since. This year celebrates the program’s 60th consecutive entry in the parade, and Cal Poly is celebrating in style with a new lab, new tool trailer and new logo.
The Cal Poly float is the only float entry in the parade that is designed, constructed and decorated solely by students and volunteers. Separated by 225 miles, both universities must build portions of the float on different campuses, then join them together on the Pomona campus two months before the parade.
The float is eventually moved to the Pasadena area about 10 days prior to the start of the parade. Floral decorations constitute the final stage of the float building process, when Cal Poly students, parents, alumni, faculty and community members apply fresh flowers to complete the float.
For more information about the Cal Poly Rose Float visit www.asi.calpoly.edu/rosefloat.
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NOTE TO EDITORS: For information about the time and place media can view the float, please contact Breana Dixon at bdixon@calpoly.edu or (805) 674-8238. Attached is our new “60th Year” logo and a colored, artist’s rendition of this year’s float.
Cal Poly Rose Float is a program of Associated Students, Inc.