A touch of Morinville in California

by Lucie Roy .
There was a touch of Morinville at the 136th edition of the Tournament of Roses Parade held on
January 1 2025 in Pasadena California.
The annual parade is a 5.5 mile walk through Pasadena with flower-covered floats and marching
bands from across the world.
The Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee (RRPFC) has one Canadian Ambassador Club and
that is the Rotary Club of Morinville Sturgeon.
There are two National Advisors from Canada, both from Alberta, one from the Morinville
Sturgeon Rotary Club and one with St. Albert Saint City Club.
The Rotary Club of Morinville Sturgeon is part of the PR and Marketing on the Marketing and
Branding Subcommittee as well as a member of the Fundraising Committee.
Involvement with the RRPFC started just prior to covid when a member of the St Albert Saint
City Rotary made a presentation on the 2018 Rotary Rose parade float patches he had for sale.
The International Director of Morinville at the time was encouraged by Rotary International to
participate with other Rotary clubs.
With covid in effect it was suggested to join via zoom the RRPFC.
Morinville has been involved ever since.
The Morinville vision was to be involved with the float when the Rotary International President
was the first female- and she was from Canada. This was known as the Year of Canada when
Jennifer Jones was the RI President.
Being involved with the two committees means discussing 25 designs and eliminating all but
five. The final design is then voted on by the committees and a discussion on the float concept is had from start to finish.
This includes how many can sit on the float, fire and safety if they have to get off the float, the
costumes, the flowers, the colours, the walkers /riders and more.
The winner will receive a prize from the Tournament of Roses and worldwide media coverage.
float theme On the Road with Rotary is a powerful representation of the work Rotary does
globally to bring positive change and uplift communities.
The Tournament of Roses Parade provides a remarkable opportunity to showcase the reach and
significance of Rotary’s worldwide efforts and with the float continue to create magic, bringing
hope and inspiration to communities worldwide.
This year the theme from the Tournament of Roses was The Best Day Ever and the Rotary float
theme was On the Road to Rotary with a cat taking a selfie with all the friends on board the
vehicle for a trip.
The float received the Most Outstanding Floral Presentation Award for a Float under 35
feet.

As soon as one parade is finished work starts immediately on the next year’s float with
weekly meetings that started on the January 8.
The RRPFC has been active since 1980.