The
annual Rose Parade and Rose Bowl football game is an all-American tradition on
New Year’s Day. Long before the radio
was invented much less the TV in 1890, members of the Pasadena’s Valley Hunt
Club wanted to celebrate the mild winter weather in California where roses were
still in bloom in January. They were
eager to tell the world about their paradise.
They were from the East and Midwest who moved to California and
discovered the nice mild winter weather in Pasadena. Dr. Charles Frederick Holder declared at a
club meeting that “In New York, people are buried in snow. Here our flowers are blooming and our oranges
are about to bear. Let’s hold a festival
to tell the world about our paradise.” Fast forward to 2013 - The forecast for
New Year’s Day tomorrow for Pasadena is 58 degrees, not exactly a warm weather. There is even a frost advisory from midnight tonight
until 9 AM tomorrow morning.
The
first floral festival on New Year’s Day was attended by more than 2000 people
and was patterned after the Battle of the Flowers held in Nice, France. The festival included a modest procession of
flower-covered carriages with afternoon games of foot races, tug-of-war
contests, bicycle races, ostrich races, polo matches and other contest on the
town lot. There was even a race between
a camel and an elephant. The elephant
won. Eventually, the contest was
replaced by the best of college football.
The town lot was then renamed Tournament Park in 1900. The first football game was played in 1902
between Stanford University and the University of Michigan with Michigan winning
49-0. Due to such defeat, the
Association dropped football in favor of chariot races.
Then
in 1916, football came back to stay. In
1920, a new stadium was built which the local newspaper called the Rose
Bowl. On January 1, 1923, the Tournament
held the first Rose Bowl game. Today,
the festival starts with a parade that includes matching bands, high-stepping
equestrian units and spectacular animated floats covered with million flowers
from all over the world. Volunteers
called petal pushers work hand in hand with professional designers to make this
event a huge success. This was followed
by the Rose Bowl where the championship collegiate football teams of the Pac-12
and the Big Ten conference meet for the showdown of the Granddaddy of them
all.
In
the early years, few teams arrived in flower decorated carriages which gave Dr.
Holder the idea to change the name of the festival to “Tournament of
Roses”. By 1895, the festival had gotten
so big that it was difficult for the Valley Hunt Club to handle so the
Tournament of Roses Association was formed.
Today the Tournament of Roses Association headquarters is housed at an
Italian Renaissance-style house, thanks to the generosity of the famous
chewing-gum manufacturer, William Wrigley Jr. whose favorite pastime was
watching the parade. The 18,500 square
foot mansion designed by architect G. Lawrence Stimson with a 4-1/2 acres rose
garden is located two blocks south of the starting point of the parade and was
bequeathed to the city of Pasadena upon Mr. Wrigley’s death in 1958 with the
stipulation that it be used as the Tournament’s permanent headquarters.
On Tuesday, January
1, 2013, the 124th Rose Parade with the theme “Oh, the Places You’ll
Go!” named after the Dr. Seuss book starts at 8:00 a.m. (PT) followed by the 99th
Rose Bowl Game at 3:10 pm between the Wisconsin Badgers, champions of the Big Ten
Conference, and the Stanford Cardinal, champions of the Pac-12 Conference, a
rematch of the same two teams in the 2000 Rose Bowl. From a humble beginning, the Rose Parade is
now presented by Honda and expects to be watched by millions on television in
more than 100 countries plus a million of spectators along the parade
routes. The Rose Bowl Game is presented
by VIZIO. The Rose Bowl Game will be
televised on ESPN and begins at 1:30 PM
PST with kickoff at 2:10 PM PST. The
game will be presided over by the 2013 Rose Queen Vanessa Manjarrez, the Royal
Court, Tournament of Roses President Sally Bixby and Grand Marshal Jane
Goodall. Dr. Jane Goodall is a British
anthropologist best known for her work with chimpanzees and also serves as
United Nations Messenger of Peace.
Roses are not difficult to grow contrary to
popular belief as long as you know what they need. Why do you think Roses have been around for millions of
years? All they need are food, water and sunlight. Just like you
and me.
We are constantly updating our contents so visit Rose Gardening World often. We want to help you grow Beautiful Roses and we welcome comments. Take time and smell the roses.
Happy Rose Gardening!
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