A small, eager crowd gathered on the steps of the headquarters of the Rose Parade, where the civic year is measured in marching bands, float blossoms, and the sudden hush that falls over Orange Grove before the first police motorcycles roll.
It was the unveiling of the 2027 Tournament of Roses theme by the Association’s newly installed president, Terry Madigan.
He arrived to applause—introduced alongside his husband, Kevin Sommerfield—and then delivered the kind of announcement that sounds almost too modest for such a huge, historic machine.
The 2027 theme will be one word: “Welcome.” Simple and elegant.
“It is simple and direct,” he agreed, following the official announcement, and after having shaken hands and hugged scores of friends and Rose Parade fans. “I think it’s something we need right now. The world is in a difficult place, and I think this sets the perfect tone.”
Madigan framed it as a feeling with a history, belonging not as a buzzword, but as a lived experience. He described welcome as something you can step into: sometimes literally, in a house, and sometimes in a community that somehow becomes one.
“It can be about the people who steady you, who celebrate you when things go right, and who quietly make space for you when they don’t,” he said.
At the center of it, he suggested, was the Tournament itself, a volunteer-driven institution that invites generations—locals and visitors, first-timers and lifers—into the same bright spectacle. He linked that theme to the hope that ripples through the Rose Bowl when teams take the field, and to the pride of identifying as a member of the Tournament of Roses Association.
Madigan, a Tournament volunteer since 1993, has long occupied the less-glamorous, more-essential side of the Parade: operations, judging, hosting, special events—the work that makes the televised magic possible. Professionally, he’s a certified personal chef and the owner of Just No Thyme, serving Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley after a prior career in marketing and communications. He also serves as a board member and treasurer of the San Gabriel Valley LGBTQ Center.
The word “Welcome,” he said, isn’t only celebratory—it’s a challenge. Then he offered a personal, unique gesture fitting the evening, an invitation. Kevin and Terry, he announced, wanted everyone to come inside and begin the countdown to New Year’s Day 2027.
Pleasantly surprised, the happy audience entered the vaunted doors of Tournament House for dessert and souvenirs. It was was the first time, in anyone’s memory, that such an invite had been extended at the annual Third-Thursday-In-January announcement event.
And it felt like home.
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.
