Contact: Amie Moberg
(805) 756-1113 Cal Poly Rose Parade Float Features 100 Candles For Centennial 'Birthday Blowout'
With a cake and 100 candles, the 54th consecutive Cal Poly Rose Parade float will salute Cal Poly's Centennial when it rolls down Pasadena's Colorado Boulevard Jan. 1.
The students chose a "Birthday Blowout" theme to meld the Cal Poly Centennial with this year's parade theme, "Good Times." But on the fanciful float, it's not the university but rather one Mortise the Tortoise and his animal friends who are blowing out the 100 candles on a huge multi-layered cake.
Designed and built by students at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and Cal
Poly Pomona, the float will be one of the few in the 113th annual Rose
Parade not built by a professional float builder -- and the only one
built by students.
Students from the two Cal Polys will complete their entry during what
is known as "deco week" Dec. 26-31 in the Brookside Pavilion at the
Rose Bowl.
"Many people don't realize the process of building a float spans an
entire year," said Cal Poly senior Dawn Moyer, decorations chair for
the project. "The float is made up of many components, and student
volunteers build them all."
Those include the steel frame, hydraulics to drive the float and
animate its characters, electronics to control the animation, and the
exterior design work topped off by dry and fresh flowers.
"The Cal Poly Rose Float relies heavily on the support of volunteers
and donors," Moyer said.
Major local donors include Farm Supply in San Luis Obispo, All Seasons
Flowers of Arroyo Grande, and J.B. Dewar Inc. of San Luis Obispo.
Anyone interested in volunteering to help prepare and apply the final
floral decoration should contact Rose Float program coordinator Amie
Moberg at (805)
756-1113.
Cal Poly's founding legislation was signed in 1901. Cal Poly Pomona,
founded in 1938 as a branch of the main campus in San Luis Obispo,
became a separate institution in 1966. The Rose Parade float continues
as an annual joint project of students at the two campuses.
More information about the Cal Poly Rose Float is also available on the
World Wide Web at www.asi.calpoly.edu/rosefloat.
(NOTE TO EDITORS: A color sketch of the Cal Poly float is available on
the Web site listed above.)
The Cal Poly Rose Float Program is a program of Associated Students,
Inc. ASI is owned and governed by Cal Poly students and strives to be the
model auxiliary within the CSU system by developing and implementing
effective policies and procedures to support student-centered programs
and services. ASI is located at Cal Poly, University Union Room 212,
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407. (805) 756-1281, fax (805) 756-5420,
www.asi.calpoly.edu.
For more information contact:
Amie Moberg, Assistant Events Coordinator
(805) 756-1113
amoberg@calpoly.edu
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