You’re given hundreds of zip ties, thousands of seeds, bins piled with pinecones and branches, plus lots of glue and wiring. You have four days to decorate the Forest Service wagon for the 135th Annual Rose Parade.
Nervous yet? We are as we stare at the piles of vegetation gathered from forests around California.
But our small-but-mighty team did this five years ago. We’re confident we can do it again.
The finished wagon will carry Forest Service Associate Chief Angela Coleman and Regional Forester Jennifer Eberlien, along with the president of the Ad Council and chief forester of the National Association of State Foresters. And of course, Smokey Bear followed by two lines of firefighters and two pack mule trains. Lots of moving parts — and mules — to account for.
If you’re new to the whole Rose Parade extravaganza, know that it’s been around since 1890.
According to parade organizers, more than 800,000 people converge onto Pasadena, California, to witness the Tournament of Roses events, while millions watch from all over the world.
And we’re all wondering, “Will we finish everything in time?”
Float building, a team effort
We’re excited to see what new crafty skill we’ll learn each morning. This is the cool stuff you wish you could fill a resume with — wiring up bins of pinecones, scavenging for red berries to hot glue to pine-bough garlands, and sticking thousands of tiny parsley flakes to Forest Service signs.
“I don’t want to forget all the sights, sounds and yes — unique smells — from the Forest Service experience at the Rose Parade,” said Hannah Hamilton, Forest Service director of strategic communications and volunteer wagon decorator.
We decorated the Forest Service wagon with clippings from the Klamath, Shasta-Trinity, Inyo, Sierra and Angeles national forests. Cedar, Douglas fir, white fir, sugar pine, manzanita, blue oak, cottonwood, willow and sage.
“There is so much sage, I think I might skip that spice next Thanksgiving,” said Hamilton. “The smell lingers, but in that wonderful, shared experience kind of way.”
Alongside Hannah, Forest Service firefighters work up garlands. The same fire crew members, who hack through forest understory and create fire breaks, now expertly tie pine boughs with pinecones and berries. Hannah and I marvel at their talents, no matter the task.
The idea for Rose Parade floats is to incorporate natural elements, like roses and sage, into the float designs. In that spirit, the Forest Service shield is filled with parsley and yellow cornflower husk. More than 200 small green zip ties attach all the bundles of branches and vegetation to the wagon. The large Smokey Bear 80th Birthday sign — thousands of black and white sesame seeds. I wonder if anyone else noticed this sign smelled like an English muffin.
On a short break, I met Abby and Annie, who will pull the Rose Parade wagon. I squealed like a 12-year-old when I pet these mule rock stars — they are shockingly soft.
Abby and Annie take it all in stride. They’re trained, like the whole herd, to be unfazed by all the sights, sounds and mule newbies like me.
Thank goodness for all the volunteers. We have the King-Demas family, who travelled here from Louisiana, Texas and Virginia for a family adventure. And Jose Quiroz, a firefighter on the Angeles National Forest. We finished the float and other preparations around 9 p.m. the night before the big parade.
The big event
It’s 3:45 a.m., New Year’s Day. Everyone’s on the shuttle, heading to the parade staging area. You can feel the excitement regardless of the hour. Smokey is safely on the wagon. Annie and the rest of the mules are lined up. It’s go time!
“Smoke-y, Smoke-y, Smoke-y!” The chanting for Smokey Bear is deafening as our Forest Service wagon rounds the first main corner of the parade route. New Year’s Day is the kickoff of Smokey’s 80th birthday, and the crowd is showing the love.
“Smokey — what a symbol and still so well known. So many people singing happy birthday to Smokey Bear,” said Pacific Southwest Regional Forester Eberlien. “It just chokes me up.”
The crowd also expressed so much love for the Forest Service firefighters in full turnout gear and carrying the tools of the trade — Pulaskis and chainsaws.
Several times the crowd joins fire prevention tech Mark Thibideau in chanting Smokey’s slogan, “Only you can prevent wildfires.”
The Pack Stock Center of Excellence mule packs follow Smokey Bear and the wagon. Mules often carry up to 150 pounds each, though not along the parade route. Mules like these have been helping backcountry workers and firefighters for over two centuries.
By the time we’re done, we’ve covered just under nine miles, passing packed stands of cheering people and children high fiving our firefighters. After all that crowd energy, we are amped to start prepping everything for the next Forest Service Rose Parade float in five years. We vow to meet up with everyone again, to celebrate Smokey’s 85th birthday.
From the get-go Associate Chief Coleman said, “This is a dream come true to be in the Rose Parade. I might get emotional.”
From the outpouring of support, I see why. Thank you, Rose Parade crowd!
More to see
For more images from the New Year’s Day 2024 at the Rose Parade — featuring the Region 5 Pack Stock Center of Excellence and Smokey Bear celebrating his 80th birthday:
The Women's Outdoor News, aka The WON, features news, reviews and stories about women who are shooting, hunting, fishing and actively engaging in outdoor adventure. This publication is for women, by women. View all posts by The WON
