by Russell Brock

At the beginning of every new year, millions of people tune in to watch vibrant displays roll down the streets of Pasadena during the annual Tournament of Roses festival. Since 1890, the Rose Parade has marked the close of the previous year, kicking off the beginning of a fresh new January with spirited exuberance and resounding cheer. From a spectator's point of view, the parade marches along seamlessly from one float to the next, an illusion masking an intense year of planning and preparation carefully orchestrated by the people behind the scenes.

"The Rose Parade is a hometown event," says Michelle M. Ireland Galman, a professor at Pasadena City College and leader of the Tournament of Roses internship program. "PCC has been unofficially involved since 1999, but this marks the first year we were officially recognized by the Executive Committee of the Tournament of Roses."

Galman and her team carefully chose 60 lucky interns from a pool of over 100 applicants to be a part of the Rose Parade. All applicants were members of Alpha Gamma Sigma, a statewide honor society, and each were chosen for their unique skills, such as language, computer, and organizational capabilities. "It's historic," Galman says. "The Executive Committee approved the program, and now these interns are officially part of the Tournament of Roses, assisting on four major committees: Formation, Parade Operation, Post-Parade, and Equestrian."

These four committees are a very important part of the Tournament of Roses. Before the first group even begins marching in, the Formation committee is on the scene manning street barricades. "All the floats line up and literally block Orange Grove Boulevard," Galman says. "The Formation interns manage traffic, keeping everything running smoothly in the hours before the parade starts."

During the parade, the Parade Operation interns make sure everything is timed correctly. "Parade Operations interns call in to headquarters when the floats are ready to go," Galman says. "Additionally, all floats need to be test-driven on local streets before they have flowers on to confirm everything works properly on a mechanical level. Many of our Parade Ops interns participated in these test drives."

The Post-Parade committee works two full days after the parade is over at float-viewing venues stationed around the city. Floats are held on "islands" across Sierra Madre Boulevard and up Washington Boulevard. Each island may have three or more floats. "Our interns were scattered about two to each island," Galman says. "They answered questions about the flowers and the seeds, and what composes the float -- essentially helping educate the general public during the float-viewing phase."

The Tournament of Roses also allowed PCC interns to work directly on floats appearing in the Tournament of Roses, and even to play a role in managing the parade horses. "They worked on building the 9/11 and City of West Covina floats," Galman says. "We also had interns on the Equestrian committee assisting with public relations and crowd control at the EquestFest, where the public can view horses and riders."

Pasadena City College is excited to become more involved with the Tournament of Roses. "It's great because the PCC interns have a unique experience," Galman says. "The Tournament benefits from their talents and abilities, and their volunteer time. In turn, existing Tournament of Roses members mentor the students, sharing their knowledge of the event from past years."

Overall, Galman's proposed pilot program is making positive steps toward solidifying Pasadena City College's official role in the Tournament of Roses. "We feel it was quite successful and everyone is very positive about seeing our students involved in the same way next year," Galman says.