Monrovia’s Musical Heritage at the Rose Parade

ByTerry Miller

Pasadena may have the Tournament of Roses,Arcadia may boast about being the unofficial home of the Rose Queens and SierraMadre may have a prize winning float, but what’s a parade without a band?That’s where Monrovia comes into the historic picture. Well, maybe not thisyear, but the first band ever entered in the Rose Parade was from Monrovia, wayback in 1891.

Monrovia’s City Band was founded just 18 monthsbefore the parade in June of 1889. At that time the band was a bit heavy onhorns featuring five cornets, three alto, two tenor, one baritone and two basshorns (in different keys) and light on reeds, having only one piccolo and oneclarinet. The band was kept in tempo with one snare drum, one bass drum and acymbalist.

There may be more glamour in what other citiesprovide but Monrovia can take pride in its historic addition to the Jan. 1tradition.

The Rose Parade’s musical legacy dates to that 1891pageant when the Monrovia City Band joined the procession of flower-coveredpony carts in the second Tournament of Roses Parade. Since then, hundreds ofthousands of musicians from all over the world have made the famous marchthrough Pasadena on New Year’s Day. The Rose Parade has welcomed high schools, collegesand universities, and military bands. Past parades have featured a variety ofmusicians including marching bands, drum and bugle corps, brass and percussionbands, and bag pipes.

The earliest Tournament of Roses welcomed 3,000spectators to its first parade filled with beautiful, horse-drawn carriagescovered in flowers. More than a century later, the parade floats are a marvelof state of the art technology, all tucked away beneath flowers and otherall-natural materials.

Each year more than 80,000 hours of combinedservice are supplied by 935 volunteer members of the Tournament of RosesAssociation. Nicknamed “White Suiters” because of the distinctive white suitsevery volunteer wears, these community-spirited men and women give up theirevenings, weekends and holidays to ensure the success of the RoseParade and Rose Bowl Game.

The average float costs well over a milliondollars to build — with framing/welding labor and, of course the design andfloral mastery that goes into each and every float.

Although just two commercial float buildersexist, Phoenix and Fiesta, both are located in Monrovia’s back yard, Irwindale,where they work their magic. There are a handful of self-built floats as well —including Sierra Madre, La Cañada and Cal Poly — which also offer behind thescenes tours.

Phoenix Decorating has been a pioneer of cuttingedge technology, hydraulics, animatronics, computer systems association andmobile technology application bewildering many.

Fiesta Parade Float’s floral presentations are consideredsome of the best in the industry. Fiesta is known, in particular, for theattention to detail on floral presentation, as well as the arrangement ofexotic organic materials used to bring the design concept to life.

To take a look at how these floats are madefirst hand, contact either company to see what schedules may be available:

Phoenix Decorating Company
phoenixdeco.com
(626) 793-3174
5400 Irwindale Ave., Irwindale

Fiesta Floats
fiestaparadefloats.com
(626) 610-0974 
16016 Avenida Padilla, Suite B, Irwindale

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