I’ll add Glendale’s group :) http://www.glendalerosefloat.org/

Great fun!

I’m volunteering for Downey this year. (I’m a lifelong resident.) It’s fun but I have to wonder if it’ll be finished in time.

Thanks, legotech.

Iomara, have fun. I know how you feel. As I’ve mentioned I’ve had my share of decorating on Orange Grove. One float we were still decorating while it was on the move to make it’s debut on TV. Running alongside, throwing seeds on it. There was a 4 ft. patch on the back of the head that never got finished. We spray painted it to match.

I did this once some 20 years ago for the First Interstate Bank float. It was fun but boy was it a messy endeavor.

I’m curious about something though. I understand volunteering for “your own float” such as a University or municipal entrant but otherwise how do these float companies, which charge a great deal of money for their design and execution of a float for corporate clients, get to rely on volunteers?

Boy if I tried to bring “volunteers” into my business for every $100,000 project, I bet the labor board would be all over me.

angelo, it is messy. I have a sweatshirt I used back in ’91 for float decorating, it’s still covered in that glue stuff. As for the volunteers, I asked and wrote an article once on the same thing. It works the same as internships. Because they allow groups/individuals from schools get credit they can do this. Adults not in a school fall under “group leader” which means that they ares supposed to just make sure their group is doing it’s credit-worthy job. As for other groups, my sister’s Girl Scout troop volunteered for Fiesta for several years, it was labeled as “experience”.

I remember doing this in High school as well. IT was hell let me tell you. it was freezing and they treated us like employees making Kathie Lee Gifford clothing. we were there from 6pm to 6am with no way out and no sleep. we took turns sneaking out and jumping the fence to sleep on a bench in a park nearby. on our breaks(that were few and far between) it was freezing and they put out our bum trashcan fires.of course this was twenty some years ago hopefully times have changed. OASIS GLUE IS THE DEVILS MAKING!

ROFL. lezgull, you must have been on the same float I was on my first year. Volunteered for a weekend and the slave-driver was this horrible bitch who thought yelling at a group of 14 year old girls was fun. I got fed up and walked away, telling her, “YOU’RE NOT PAYING US!” which then made the rest of the people get up and walk. The owner of the float company actually came out and talked to us and the lady was sent to another float. IIRC, that was a Fiest float too. She then made this big show of buying her new team hot cocoa. My mother one-upped her by buying pizza AND hot cocoa for everyone working our entire float.

If I ever volunteer to somehow try to get grated parsley to stick to anything every again, I know I have died and gone to hell. But I can always say I DID IT DAMN IT :)

oops I meant ever again. my bad

Faboomama, I wish we had started a mutiny! Our stupid unfinished float could have used your Norma Rae skills!

:) I spoke to some old hand volunteer float decorators today, people who have been doing this 15 – 46 years. They all told that story about the screaming lady. Battle scars, we’ve earned them.

like some of you I also helped to decorate a float in high school for the 1992 Parade, but did not have such a negative experience where we were worked to death. The only aspect that was negative was how cold it was in the staging area, seemed like it was almost freezing. I think our group spent about 4 or 5hrs over the course of 1 weekend. It was fun watching the float on TV, and when I finally did attend a Rose Parade I appreciated the floats a lot more knowing the work & effort that goes into decorating them.