The Road to the Rose Parade: Behind the Blooms

Join us for a special edition of On the Road with Paul Ward as we go behind the scenes near Pasadena, CA, to prepare for the iconic New Year’s Day Parade of Roses. Paul introduces Wade Nomura of the Carpinteria Rotary Club, who shares his insights about Rotary’s involvement in the parade, this year’s theme, “On the Road with Rotary,” and the fascinating float-building process. Discover how the floats are funded, meet the riders and walkers participating in the parade, and hear Wade’s inspiring story of his connection to Rotary and its mission. Learn about this year’s Rotary International President, Stephanie Hicks, from Pittsburgh, PA, and the special riders featured on the 2025 Rotary float. Get inspired by Rotary’s impactful work and find out how you can get involved with the parade and the organization.

Watch the full episode HERE

What you’ll learn in this episode:
0:00 Introduction to this very special edition of On the Road with Paul Ward on location in Pasadena, CA preparing for the 2025 New Years Day Rose Parade
0:45 Some behind the scenes footage
4:21 Paul introduces our guest Wade Nomura of the Carpinteria Rotary Club
5:51 Wade tells us about his involvement in Rotary and what the Rotary is doing at the Rose Parade and reveals this year’s theme, “On the Road with Rotary.”
7:52 The float building process
9:48 How the float is paid for and the riders and walkers in the parade
11:30 The back story of Wade’s involvement with Rotary and what Rotary is
12:56 Where to learn more, and more ways to get involved with the parade and with Rotary
14:15 Special riders on the 2025 Rotary float and this year’s Rotary International President and rider, Stephanie Hicks, from Pittsburgh, PA.
16:09 A special Thank You to our sponsor: Opus Escrow

Related Episodes:
Rotary’s Global Impact & Future Leadership with Margarida Eidson
Desert Dreams: The Palms, Wonder Valley’s Artistic Oasis

Rotary International:
https://www.rotary.org/

Rose Parade Rotary Float:
www.rotaryfloat.org

Contact Paul Ward:
805-479-5004
paul@homeandranchteam.com

Have ideas for future episodes? We’d love to answer your questions – leave a comment! For any home buying or home selling needs in the Ventura County area of California, please reach out to Paul@HomeAndRanchTeam.com or visit www.HomeAndRanchTeam.com

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A special THANK YOU to our sponsor, OPUS Escrow! On the Road with Paul Ward would not be possible without the support of our sponsor OPUS Escrow. Supporting our sponsor ensures that On the Road provides viewers and listeners with the best possible episodes.

Speaker 1 (00:00):

<Silence>

Paul Ward (00:08):

Hey friends, it’s Paul Ward here, and welcome to this special edition of On the Road. We are down near Pasadena, and we are working on the Rose Parade floats for the upcoming Rose Parade, which will be on January 1st. And there are 17 floats being worked on. And I am here as part of my local Rotary Club of Camarillo and brought a bunch of high school students to help with this effort. And we also have our Rotary International president visiting from Pittsburgh. So, it’s quite an honor and a privilege to be here, and I’m excited to participate.

Float Leaders (00:45):

Volunteer today. The second option is I want really quality work, because if you do a good job, we win an award. That’s our float you’re working on. The theme this year is, “Best Day Ever.” Our theme is, On the Road with Rotary.” You’re taking a, these animals are taking a road trip in that vehicle. That’s their best day ever. There are 17 floats being built in there. You’re one of them. Who wants to be on the scaffold? Up on the scaffold? You wanna on the scaffold? Come over here, climb.

Paul Ward (04:21):

Hi friends, it’s Paul Ward here, and welcome to On the Road. Well, it’s a seasonal time of year, very festive between Christmas and New Year’s. And one of the big events that’s coming up is the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl. And who better to talk to us about the Rose Parade than Wade Nomura with Carpinteria Rotary Club. Wade, welcome.

Wade Nomura (05:28):

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Paul Ward (05:30):

Absolutely. And Wade, you wear many hats with the Rotary Club, is that correct?

Wade Nomura (05:36):

That is correct. I do a number of things, both club wise, district wise and internationally for Rotary.

Paul Ward (05:43):

Okay. And right now, you’re a liaison between Rotary and the Rose Parade, is that correct?

Wade Nomura (05:51):

That that is correct. My specific task and duty are to represent their float committee when we talk to negotiations, contracts, and getting VIPs coming out to the parade each year.

Paul Ward (06:05):

Gotcha. So,o Rotary has a float in this year’s parade?

Wade Nomura (06:12):

That is correct. The actual float is licensed by Rotary International, but it actually is done by a community called, “The Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee.” (It’s) Been around for quite a few years. I think it started back in the sixties, so we’ve had quite a few floats. I think we’re approaching 50 or 60 floats total consecutively.

Paul Ward (06:33):

Wow. And what is, what is this year’s theme?

Wade Nomura (06:37):

This year’s theme is, “On the Road with Rotary.”

Paul Ward (06:40):

“On the Road with Rotary.” That’s funny. That’s the name of my podcast. The Irony.

Wade Nomura (06:43):

Oh, perfect. Well, here you go. I have to get you one of these pins here, <laugh>.

Paul Ward (06:47):

There we go. Wonderful. Thank you. And who decides to theme?

Wade Nomura (06:54):

The theme itself? Each float gets its own choice. So, each organization that has one of the floats gets to pick and choose the name and naming of that float. The Rose Parade actually comes with international theme. So that theme is their blanketing market theme, and we have to fit our logo and theme into that specific annual theme this year. You know, “On the Road with Rotary,” was one of those ones that just fit. Yeah, it’s a pretty festive float. I think you’ll enjoy it when we get there on site.

Paul Ward (07:25):

Can you give any hints as to what it looks like? Is there a any animals or mechanics?

Wade Nomura (07:31):

Well, the trick is, if you can see the actual pin itself it’s a picture of a farm, basically a farm and farm truck with animals from the farms specifically. We have chickens, pigs, cows, things like that on the float, along with a few Rotarians, including the president of Rotary International

Paul Ward (07:52):

Wonderful. Now, how many hours go into making a float, would you say?

Wade Nomura (08:00):

The actual float construction starts well, before we actually will start our float at the beginning of the year in January or February when we come up with a theme, we start the selection process. Once we have a theme or idea put in place, the company Phoenix Float Builders actually comes up with different renditions of floats they think would be a good one. We have maybe 60-64 different selections to pick from. And then once you come up with what we think fits best for what we wanna have with our theme we then go with that one. Once the actual rendition is made, then it goes into actual construction. So, it starts with a metal chassis, gets foamed out and gets colored in. And then at the end of the year in December, starting in December, we actually start putting the float together. When I say that, that’s when the dry arrangements and the flowers go on. So, from the beginning of December, all the way to we’ll be doing our final touches probably in the next two days. So, it’s still in process. We can’t do the live hours until five days out, otherwise they will be damaged. So that’s the time consumption there, and it takes thousands of hours literally to actually put the float together

Paul Ward (09:10):

That’s incredible. And if you multiply it by all of the other floats that are in the parade, it’s just <laugh> tens of thousands.

Wade Nomura (09:17):

That is, that is true. It’s pretty amazing.

Paul Ward (09:20):

Interesting. I didn’t realize that it was almost a year-long venture.

Wade Nomura (09:25):

Definitely. So, right. It’s incredible. We’ll be coming out with next year’s, probably sometime February.

Paul Ward (09:30):

Wow. Well, for full disclosure, I’m driving a group of students down to do some work this afternoon.

Wade Nomura (09:38):

Great. So, we’ll see you there.

Paul Ward (09:39):

Absolutely. And where do the funds come to pay for a float? I mean, it’s not a inexpensive venture.

Wade Nomura (09:48):

No, no. The float itself is probably valued at about a quarter of a million dollars, and we have to fundraise that annually. Yeah, it’s pretty big deal. And that’s why we stay pretty busy year-round. Most of the money comes from the actual participants. So, as an example for the public to be aware of, we charge ten thousand dollars per rider on the float. Okay, so a thousand dollars a rider goes to the float. For riders, we have out walkers, they’re at $6,500 each, and we could have as many as 12 of those. So eight riders, 12 walkers. We have potentially 20 participants actually with the float itself on Parade Day.

Paul Ward (10:27):

Interesting. And they’ve all paid or…

Wade Nomura (10:31):

They will pay. Some ’em are sponsoring districts too. Districts will actually pay for a spot. So for example our district, 5240, actually pays for a spot each year, annually, and this year Sherry Sim will be one of the walkers.

Paul Ward (10:44):

Okay. And how do you decide who’s a walker and who’s a rider? I mean, is it just first come, first serve?

Wade Nomura (10:52):

Actually, it’s the difference in price. $10,000 for a rider, $6,500 for a walker. If you want to step up, then we oftentimes are able to accommodate everybody. Two of the spots are actually taken by Rotary International, so they help us out also.

Paul Ward (11:08):

Interesting. Interesting. How long have you been working on this particular project?

Wade Nomura (11:13):

This project, I probably started in about 2006, 2007. Been there ever since. They put me on the committee for a few times. I’ve been chair twice now, but I’ve served with the committee that whole time. No breaks <laugh>.

Paul Ward (11:27):

Wow. And how did you get involved in Rotary?

Wade Nomura (11:30):

Rotary itself was an interesting one. We chartered the club. I was one of the charter members of the Rotary Club of Carpinteria. And in doing so, like most Rotarians, I had no idea what Rotary was all about. I just signed on the dotted line, <laugh>. It wasn’t until I started getting involved with water projects in Mexico that I figured out the value of that one. So doing water projects in Mexico to then incorporating all of the other, I would say, organizations. I’m doing, for example, youth activities, youth sports, all the way through to landscaping water projects, and now into building floats, which I’m a horticulture, so that helps a little bit also.

Paul Ward (12:07):

I would imagine. And the rotary theme is for those that don’t know, is “Service above self.”

Wade Nomura (12:13):

That is correct.

Paul Ward (12:14):

And there’s a four-way test as well.

Wade Nomura (12:17):

That is true. <Laugh>,

Paul Ward (12:19):

You’re helping humankind. That’s what it’s all about.

Wade Nomura (12:23):

Pretty much. Rotary International is a humanitarian organization of service, so we have 1.4 million members globally. And the mission overall is to make the world a better place.

Paul Ward (12:35):

Back to the float. I mean it is a big endeavor and a big financial undertaking, but, you know, millions of folks are, are watching the parade before the big game. And so, it’s an opportunity to get word out about what Rotary is, even if people aren’t quite sure.

Wade Nomura (12:56):

Sure. No, that is very true. There are other ways too, besides the walks and riders, you can contribute any amount. What currently we have a, “Buy a Rose,” which is $25 for the rose. And you actual get a rose with your name on that, put on the float itself. So that’s another way to do it. We have ambassadors. The ambassadors pay annually. It’s $500 for the first time. You get the pin, the hat, the jacket, all of the above, the same as the committee members get. Then it’s I think it’s $250 each year after that. And that also helps quite a bit. We are looking for people to try and I would say get the word out to different districts, different clubs, things like that. So, that does help quite a bit. And by the way, we’ll have millions of people seeing this float on New Year’s Day. So that’s another big, big deal. And that’s why Rotary’s involved.

Paul Ward (13:47):

I didn’t know about the Rose contribution and, you know, getting a jacket. Is there a website that folks can go?

Wade Nomura (13:55):

Yeah, yeah. It’s an easy one to remember. Rotaryfloat.org.

Paul Ward (13:58):

Rotaryfloat.org.

Wade Nomura (14:01):

That’s correct.

Paul Ward (14:02):

Wonderful. Anything else about the folks that are on (the float)? Anybody special on this year’s float or walking that you might know that have been big Rotary Rotarian contributors?

Wade Nomura (14:15):

<Laugh> Actually the biggest one would be the representatives of Rotary International themselves. Each year we have the international president come out this year we have Stephanie coming in as she came in from Pittsburgh, well via Korea, via Japan, via India. And she leaves shortly after that to go to Africa. Their schedules are <laugh>, unbelievable <laugh>.

Paul Ward (14:38):

Wow.

Wade Nomura (14:38):

But she’s here. Each and every year we do have the president come out. We’ve had the president’s riding ever since 2012. So, from 2012 to current times, every president has ridden on that float.

Paul Ward (14:53):

And is this yours and forgive me for not knowing, but is this year’s, Rotary International President American, or?

Wade Nomura (15:01):

Yeah, that is correct. Stephanie Hicks from Pittsburgh.

Paul Ward (15:04):

Okay.

Wade Nomura (15:07):

Next year’s president will be coming from Brazil.

Paul Ward (15:09):

Oh, wow. Okay. So that’s kind of a big, a big honor and a tradition for the Rotary International President to ride in the parade.

Wade Nomura (15:17):

It is, it is. They get international airtime, basically, which is big. It’s a huge deal for us.

Paul Ward (15:26):

Wonderful. Well, Wade, I appreciate this and we’re certainly gonna wanna spread the word about Rotary International and the good works that the organization is doing, and look forward to, of course, assisting when bringing the kids down. And of course,f course watching the parade and seeing the Rotary International float.

Wade Nomura (15:46):

Look forward to seeing you there also.

Paul Ward (15:48):
Well, thank you Wade Nomura. We, we appreciate it. And we’ll talk to you soon.

Wade Nomura (15:52):
Sounds good. Thank you.