Parade Begins on Sidewalks of Pasadena

Floats commemorating the “Spirit of America” would trundle onto Colorado Boulevard in due time. But on Monday, early Rose Parade spectators celebrated the Spirit of Pasadena: Heads propped on pillows, bodies slouched in beach chairs, they waited.

Playing cards, reading, listening to blaring stereos or conversing with new-found neighbors, more than 10,000 parade goers sprawled along Pasadena streets awaiting the New Year’s Day tradition, the 96th annual Tournament of Roses parade.

For others, the pre-parade festivities alone were reason enough to endure 12 hours of brilliant, squint-inducing sunshine, a snootful of car exhaust and a cold, loud New Year’s Eve.

Fun Starts Early

“It’s usually more fun before the parade,” noted Lynn Stringer, at 14 a two-time parade veteran. “Just walking and talking to people. . . .”

“And going to the video arcade,” interjected her friend, Leticia Estrada.

The annual line-up began Sunday, when the most hardy spectators perched themselves on the sidewalks. More than 1,000 people spent Sunday night along the 5 1/2-mile parade route, Pasadena police said.

By mid-Monday, traffic along South Orange Grove and Colorado boulevards merely crawled, as cars slowed to release passengers laden with sleeping bags and chairs.

Scores of chairs, in some places three and four deep, lined the streets and slowly began to fill.

Kevin Davis, 24, and Adrienne Pierce, 31, were among a few sentries guarding 670 chairs reserved for members of a Pasadena church.

Davis said he would be among those seated curbside on Colorado Boulevard when the parade marches by.

Not so Pierce.

“I’ll be sleeping,” she said.

But at least a million people are expected to forsake sleep and crowd onto the streets for the 8:20 a.m. marchoff of 59 floral floats, 22 marching bands and more than 200 horses. Grand Marshal Lee A. Iacocca, head of Chrysler Corp., and Rose Queen Kristina Kaye Smith will oversee the festivities.

Millions more will watch the spectacle on television.

Parade Test Run A few thousand others viewed Azusa’s miniversion of the Rose Parade on Monday night. Thirteen of the floats, built in Azusa at the Float Barn, made a 2 m.p.h. test run through the city while onlookers watched, snapped pictures and collected flowers knocked off by high wires.

“They’ve run the floats by here for years--my mom has black-and-white film of them when I was 2,” Shane Heath, 20, of Azusa, said. “Until a few years ago, it was just us (residents watching). Now a lot of people come out.”

“Last year I was in a supermarket when they went by,” another spectator, Janice Vinyard said, . “I didn’t want to miss this time.”

After the test-run, the floats were hooked up to four-wheel-drive trucks and towed the rest of the way to Pasadena to save wear and tear.

Don Capps, a member of a local truckers club that did most of the towing, recalled the unusual way in which he was recruited.

“We were racing around in the Mudhole--that’s Azusa Canyon--a couple of months ago when a guy that worked here (Float Barn) chased us down and asked us if we’d like to help,” Capps said. “I almost didn’t stop at the time. Thought it was a cop.”

The “Spirit of America” theme helped turn this year’s parade into a celebration of the Statue of Liberty--the statue’s original torch will ride on the parade’s first float, “Sweet Land of Liberty”, sponsored by Hilton Hotels Corp.

A 40-foot replica of the full statue, surrounded by stars and stripes, comprises another float--”The Spirit of America,” sponsored by Farmers Insurance.

The floats will be on display after the parade from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. today and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday on Sierra Madre Boulevard between Washington Boulevard and Sierra Madre Villa Avenue. A special viewing time for the handicapped will be from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Wednesday.

With the yearlong preparations for the parade nearly complete, Pasadena officials reported only one last-day glitch. Brookside Golf Course, which usually serves as a parking lot for 20,000 Rose Bowl game vehicles, was still sodden from recent rains and police decided Monday to close half of the acreage.

Police spokesman Mike Guerin said cars will be parked instead along residential streets near the bowl--specifically, Seco Street, Washington Boulevard, Rosemont Avenue, Arroyo Boulevard, Salvia Canyon, and West Drive. Guerin said game spectators should allow an additional hour of travel time before the football game between USC and Ohio State.

Spectators were also encouraged to use the Southern California Rapid Transit District shuttle line from downtown Pasadena to and from the bowl. Buses will leave every fifteen minutes from Fair Oaks Avenue and Walnut Street, and from Colorado Boulevard and Raymond Street. A round-trip ticket is $1.

Times staff writer Steve Harvey contributed to this article