Before the Roses, the Rummage

The oldest self-built float in the Rose Parade will roll down Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Day 2027 covered in flowers paid for, in part, by a two-day sale of the secondhand and the gently-used in a South Pasadena community hall.

That sale — the South Pasadena Tournament of Roses committee’s annual yard sale — returns Friday, Aug. 14, and Saturday, Aug. 15, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the War Memorial Building, 435 Fair Oaks Ave.

Everything on the tables will be donated by neighbors, sorted by volunteers and priced to move, with all proceeds going toward the city’s 2027 parade entry, “Welcome to the Neighborhood.”

The committee, known as SPTOR, describes its float as the oldest self-built entry in the Rose Parade — one of only six built and funded entirely by community volunteers, from welding the steel to gluing on the final petal. According to the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, the all-volunteer South Pasadena committee has built and decorated its own floats since 1893.

In an announcement issued Aug. 1, the committee said the annual sale helps cover costs of $150,000 for materials and the large tent that houses the float from August through December.

Karie Reynolds, the committee’s publicity chair, said in written responses that the $150,000 figure is the committee’s target and that the true annual cost continues to rise, driven by inflation, tariffs and demand for materials.

For Steve Fillingham, who organizes the sale with fellow longtime committee member Janet Benjamin, the appeal is plainer than the balance sheet.

“Beyond the money that helps the oldest self-built float in the parade the community loves the idea that they are contributing to its cause,” he said.

The sale itself is a scramble. Fillingham said the committee gets only brief use of the building’s lower basement to stage donated goods, then typically takes over the main hall just a day before doors open — hauling smaller items upstairs and staging the large pieces that arrive on the final day. Donations of gently used goods are being accepted at the War Memorial Building on Tuesday, Aug. 11, and Wednesday, Aug. 12, from the basement door off the parking lot, and Thursday, Aug. 13, at the front door. Mattresses, large appliances and large furniture cannot be accepted. Shoppers can pay by cash or card, and tax-deductible donation receipts are available.

The float the money supports, designed by artist Renee Hoss-Johnson, depicts a family of bluebirds moving into a new home as woodland neighbors arrive bearing gifts — a squirrel with acorns, a skunk with tulips, a groundhog with carrots — the committee’s answer to the parade’s 2027 theme, “Welcome.” The 138th Rose Parade steps off at 8 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2027.

Fillingham has a shorthand for what a shopper’s dollar buys. The committee, he said, likes to tell everyone who comes through that they are contributing “one flower at a time.”

For more information, contact Steve Fillingham, yard sale organizer sftballsteve@aol.com and (626) 391-1397.