Race Against Time: Volunteers Rush to Complete Rose Parade Floats

In a massive coordinated effort, thousands of volunteers were working in shifts around the clock at Phoenix Decorating Company’s Irwindale warehouse to complete 17 elaborate floats for the 135th Rose Parade. The final countdown brings together diverse community organizations racing to finish intricate floral decorations before the New Year’s morning deadline, following an intensive two-phase process that began with dry decorations from Dec. 7-21.

“When it gets to the crunch time and the finish line, all you need to do is put that aside and work as a team. Because if you don’t work as a team, it’s not going to get completed, especially if you’re up against a deadline,” says Andreana Cervantes, who has been volunteering since 2012 and often works double shifts from early morning until evening.

Fresh flowers arrived approximately Dec. 27-28, giving volunteers just days to complete the detailed floral work. Volunteers aged 13 and older commit to full eight-hour shifts, working either 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. or 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The extensive effort involves multiple community organizations, including Lutheran Petal Pushers, Kiwanis Youth, Lions Club, Rotary, Shriners, and Kaiser Permanente, a new participant this year.

Gene Ernst, an eight-year volunteer, highlights the collaborative nature of the effort: “The Petal Pushers is an organization that works together with the Phoenix Decorating Company to provide manpower and they compensate the pedal pushers and that helps fund the Lutheran Hour float… I think this is the 74th year of the Lutheran Hour float.”

The Lutheran Hour float alone requires 4,000-5,000 volunteer hours, with veteran volunteers like Ernst and his wife returning year after year, some taking leadership roles and organizing teams from different states.

The floats, adorned with seeds, bark, fruits, vegetables, grasses, and flowers, must be completed and transported with law enforcement escort from Irwindale to Pasadena by Dec. 31, scheduled to move around 4 p.m. and arrive before 10 p.m.

Three judges — Dr. Morgan Anderson, Bill Brzeski, and Drew Rios — will evaluate each float in a five-minute judging session across 14 categories, considering float design, floral presentation, and entertainment value.

Chuck Hayes from Phoenix Decorating Company’s Sponsor Relations emphasizes the collaborative spirit: “The good weather was very helpful. I think that the opportunities and the word of mouth with Lutheran pedal pushers, the Kiwanis Youth, the Lions, the Rotary, the Shriners, all those folks coming together, Kaiser Permanente and what they did. Just a tremendous opportunity.”

Various organizations use their float participation to highlight their missions. The Lions Club focuses on vision screenings and humanitarian causes, while both Universal Studios and Kaiser Permanente have committed significant volunteer resources to their floats.

For volunteers like Cervantes, the reward comes on parade day: “Seeing it down on the street along Colorado and then seeing all the joy and bringing that joy to everybody’s faces in their TV living room, sitting down with hot cocoa and seeing all of our floats, I think is the most rewarding feeling that you can have when you accomplish this.”

The 135th Rose Parade will begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, where the floats will be positioned for both grandstand spectators and millions of television viewers worldwide.