This was a good start
PASADENA - Dodging rain, the 2011 Tournament of Roses Parade strutted and preened its way down Colorado Boulevard on a sunny but chilly New Year's Day morning, coming off nearly without a hitch as hundreds of thousands people cheered it along.
As millions more watched on TV, parade Grand Marshal Paula Deen, the sassy Southern star of the Food Network, led the 5.5-mile, roses-perfumed procession, waving and clapping to the crowds while riding in a 1923 Springfield Silver Ghost Rolls Royce with her husband.
Unified under the theme "Building Dreams, Friendships, and Memories," the parade featured 47 elaborate floral floats - some sprouting fireworks, spirals of smoke and other special effects - 22 bands, and 22 equestrian
The 122nd Tournament of Roses Parade
City of Duarte/City of Hope float, "Dreams For The Community", and "Living the Healthy Life" during the 122nd Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California on New Year's Day,
Saturday, January 1, 2011.
Much like Deen herself, a self-made entrepreneur who built her food empire from the ground up, the parade was a testament to months of work by the thousands of volunteers who dreamed up the designs and built the floats from scratch.
"We're absolutely thrilled by how well it came together," said Bill Flinn, chief operating officer of the Tournament of Roses. "All the bands arrived safely, the post-parade is now open - all the floats are out there. And how can you beat this weather?" Not only did a storm forecast earlier in the week steer clear from Colorado - after a wet holiday season - the cool temperatures in the low-40s even helped preserve the floats, Flinn said.
"If it was too hot, it's tough on the flowers," he said.
Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the parade route, police said, although officials were unable to provide a precise estimate of the crowd totals.
There was one snag early on, when the float sponsored by the Sierra Madre Rose Float Association broke down and had to be hauled down the route by a tow truck. That float, themed "Sue os de California," won the Governor's Award for the best depiction of life in California.
Other float entries included Sweepstakes Award-winner Dole's recreation of a tropical Hawaii landscape, and the Alzheimer's Association and Pfizer's "Boomer Express" float, shaped like a train, which earned the President's Award. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation float, marking the late president's 100th birthday, won the National Award.
But one float again appeared to steal the show - Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Pet Foods Inc.'s "Havin' a Splash" float. It featured Tillman, the bulldog, and his dog friends skim-boarding and jumping into a pool of water.
Touted as the world's heaviest Rose Parade float at more than 35 tons, it won the Tournament Special Award for exceptional merit in multiple categories. "That dog could do that all day long," said John Schmit, Foret's husband.
Catherine Gilmour of Pasadena, the 1979 Rose Queen, watched from the grandstands with her two sons, Hayden and Wheeler, and her boyfriend William Harrington as Rose Queen Evanne Friedmann of La Cañada Flintridge and her Royal Court of six Rose Princesses drove past on the Macy's Queen's float. "It's still fun and sweet, and it's still great to see all these people out there," she said. "It's a great tradition."
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