Local Family Decorates Floats for 137th Pasadena Rose Bowl Parade

By John P. Boan
News Editor

It’s not often that 50 million people across 170 countries see the work you’ve done, but for a Dade County family, that’s exactly what happened. 

Leonda Smith and her daughters Amanda Smith and Kyla Castleberry recently traveled to Pasadena, CA to decorate floats for the 137th Rose Bowl Parade on Jan. 1. The trio worked at the “Phoenix Float Barn” where roughly a dozen floats were being constructed by a small army of volunteers, roughly 2,000 in total.

The theme of this year’s parade was “Magic in Teamwork,” and the event’s Grand Marshall was Lakers’ legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson. The parade itself featured 63 total entries, including floats, equestrian units and marching bands from across the country. From Tennessee, the Franklin High School Marching Band performed, marking 30 years since their first and only previous inclusion in the parade. The parade route itself extended 5.5 miles along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, and an estimated 700,000 people turned out to watch the parade in person.

Seeing the effort that goes into making the parade happen each and every year, Castleberry said, will make her better appreciate the event in the years that come.

“It was a lot of work, but so interesting to see the process in person,” she said. “You hear them talk about all the labor that goes into it during the broadcast, but it really puts it into perspective seeing it in person.”

The effort that goes into each of the decorated floats is intensive, she said. The three worked an eight-hour shift, and in that time, only one piece was fully completed–the Kiwanis International “Happy Together” float. In addition to that, they helped prep some of the more than 64,000 flowers on the Trader Joe’s “You Float Our Boat” float.

Amanda Smith said that not only was she taken aback by the amount of work and detail that went into each float but also the number of volunteers who showed up to help.

“I was surprised to see hundreds of volunteers showing up and waiting in line for a chance to decorate, a large number being high school and college age, which was very impressive to me,” she said. “Everyone seemed to take their assignments seriously and really took pride in their work.”

The work itself wasn’t easy, she said. Each flower had to be cut and a toothpick placed in the end of the stem so it could be added to the float, and the three did this hundreds of times during their shift.

“Once you get your assignment you get right to it. There’s a lot of tedious work that has to be done, gluing individual seeds or petals to the floats for instance,” Amanda Smith said. “The repetition of this was tiring and resulted in a couple splinters and a blister.”

The group’s decision to take a day to help decorate really made the parade itself that much more impact, Castleberry said. It’s one thing to see the parade on TV, but to see it in person and know the widespread coordination that went into pulling the annual event off made it that much more special.

“It was an incredible experience,” she said. “I personally would say taking a day to decorate before the parade is an absolute must. It really changes the whole experience and makes you appreciate everything you’re seeing so much more.”

While the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take direct part in an internationally-televised event will always be memorable in its own right, the trio said, getting to spend it with family was priceless.

“I’ll always remember getting to experience this with my two daughters,” Leona Smith said. 

Her daughters agreed, saying that despite the parade route seeing rain for the first time in 20 years, it didn’t put a damper on their time together. It had always been a dream of Leona Smith to attend the parade, and once her daughters found travel packages that made her dream feasible, they jumped on it.

“I loved it,” Castleberry said. “Making these memories with my mom and sister is always my favorite part of our trips.”