myBurbank Talks Special: Behind the Scenes of Burbank's Rose Parade Magic

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
From deep in the Burbank Media District.
It's time for another editionof my Burbank Talks.
This podcast is presented bythe staff of my Burbank.
Now let's see what's on today'sagenda as we join our program.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hello Burbank, craig Schubert here with you once
again and we've got the bandback together.
Here's Ross Benson.

Speaker 3 (00:24):
I got my hat on.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
You're out of uniform , mister.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Yeah, no, well, my Burbank Talks.
I'm ready to do a show.
Wow, we got the band backtogether.
We've got Craig.
Hi-ho, tally-ho, let's go.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
We've got Craig Dooling with us.
Somebody left the gate open.
I was able to find my way in.
I was able to find my way in,but it's good to be here.
This is a great day.
I love special events like this.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
It's New Year's Eve here in Burbank and we're on
location at the BurbankTournament Roses barn and we're
going to have some guests ontoday and talk to them.
So stand by and Ross is goingto take over and he's going to
get some great questions andwe'll have some great guests for
you.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
So we'll talk to you in just a second.
Wow, we are going to be talkingto probably one of the most
important persons that putBurbank's float together, john
Reeves.
John, how are you today?
You getting a little tired.
More than a little, yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Are you sleeping right now?
Not quite.
Hopefully not yet.
Okay, give us a minute.

Speaker 5 (01:22):
I'll sleep on the convoy.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
There you go.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
Exactly.
People don't understand.
You know, burbank is aself-built float.
We've been doing it.
This is our 75th year ofputting floats in the Rose
Parade and there's quite a fewchairman and people that do
certain things.
Your job title is floatconstruction super director.

Speaker 5 (01:44):
Chairman.
Yeah, super director.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
Chairman yeah, chairman, super director, you've
been involved with BurbankTournament Resort.
How many years now, john?

Speaker 5 (01:52):
Over 20.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
Amazing, amazing, and you've seen a lot of winners,
yeah, and so forth, yeah.

Speaker 5 (02:00):
And a few others.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
Well, what got you into this 20 years ago?
How did they rope you into thisand why are you still?

Speaker 5 (02:05):
here, Well, I saw an article in the paper about it
and I said that soundsinteresting.
I moved here from Michigan andI watched the parade growing up
and I never thought I'd be ableto actually work on the parade.
And I saw the article and Isaid that sounds interesting.
I came and I volunteered oneday I started out screening a

(02:26):
lobster on Bathtime Friends andI got hooked.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
That's great.
Now I know there's a lot ofwelding that goes on.
Do you have a weldingbackground or do you have a
background in any of this?

Speaker 5 (02:36):
No, I've learned so many things on this project not
just this project, but over theyears I've learned how to weld,
I've learned how to dohydraulics, I've learned how to
drive a forklift, I've learnedhow to use CO2 effects.
Yeah, all of these things, andlearned one or two things about
flowers.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yeah, and seeds and all that stuff, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5 (02:56):
I can manage, but I'm no expert in that stuff.

Speaker 1 (02:59):
So you're more the framework and the building of
the float, not so much thedecoration of it, absolutely.

Speaker 5 (03:05):
Yeah, I leave that to the deco committee.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
Which is a whole other team.
I mean the hustle and bustlearound here and it's New Year's
Eve and the hustle and bustle inthe warehouse here and out
around the float, it's stillcrazy.
You can tell it's all thoselast touches, last looks.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
People don't understand underneath that float
, when they see it, it's steel.

Speaker 5 (03:25):
Tons of it.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
There's tons of it Literally and people don't
understand that there's a carunder there.

Speaker 5 (03:31):
Well, it's a custom-built chassis actually.

Speaker 3 (03:33):
Exactly, and they changed a couple years ago, so
people don't understand.
You can make the float longeror shorter.
It depends on what the designis and so forth.

Speaker 5 (03:44):
This is one of our longest floats.
We have extensions in the frontand the rear, and they're both
at their maximum.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
This is the first time that we've actually had the
rear extension out to its fulllength Is the core motorized and
steering portion, that chassisdoes that get carried on from
year to year?

Speaker 5 (04:03):
There's a chassis that was designed by a Cal Poly
mechanical engineering studentfor the 1994 parade, so it was a
senior project, and someBurbank people built the chassis
and then the Burbank Water andPower team put the engine and
the steering and all of thedrivetrain into it, and so they

(04:25):
are still responsible formaintaining that aspect of the
float.
And then we're responsible foreverything float-specific, all
of the animation engine which wereplaced a few years back,
about maybe 10 years ago.
And everything that has all thecharacters and everything,

(04:46):
because these have moving parts.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
There are hydraulics involved, there's pyrotechnics
involved, there's animation.

Speaker 5 (04:51):
Yeah, unbelievable.
Yeah, I mean, I still only knowthe very basics of pyrotechnics
and for this year we actuallyhired an outside expert because
we're doing live flame.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Well, you've only been here 20 years, you'll get
the hang of it eventually.
Now, one of my favorite littleparts that some people might not
be aware of is where the driversits underneath all that with
his little porthole to the front.
No, he doesn't have that noporthole.
Or is it a camera and monitor?
I know there's a hole in theground, a hole in the floor.

Speaker 5 (05:21):
Yes, he can see through the uh, through the
floor.
It's uh, it's what we callexpanded metal.
So it's just an open grid workand he can see the pink line.
He needs to see the line.
That was where I was going.
And we actually, we actuallyhave a light that shines down on
the ground so he can see theline more easily.
Um, so that's how he steers,but that doesn't tell him how
fast to go, and so for that hehas an observer up front and

(05:44):
he's on a headset much like theones we're wearing, and, yeah,
he's telling him, you know, tospeed up or slow down.
The observer also has acompletely independent braking
system, so in case somebodydashes in front of the float to
grab a flower or something, hecan stop on a dime.
But you know he only uses thatin case of an emergency.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
But in an emergency, rather than the delay of
relaying that to the driver.
Absolutely, I always found itfascinating that that whole
parade, all those floats, followa line painted down the middle
of.
Colorado and that's whatthey're following Like it's a
track, like a virtual track,absolutely yeah, that always
impressed me.

Speaker 3 (06:22):
John, I know you guys have a ton of work still to do.
We are, I guess, about an houraway from the float pulling out
for its convoy.
Burbank escorts it over viacity streets, go flower over to
Alameda and up Glen Oaks anddown Glen Oaks Is that a secret
route?

Speaker 1 (06:40):
I hope it's not.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
It's on our website, oh okay, all right, so you can
follow it along, actually.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
You're terrible at keeping secrets.
If that's the case.

Speaker 3 (06:46):
This is true, but I used to go and leapfrog all the
way over to the Colorado Bridgeand watch a float come on.
And this year, because Burbankis the seventh float of floats,
you guys are getting out of herethe earliest you've ever left.

Speaker 5 (07:01):
Well, it's actually not because of that you've ever
left.
Well, it's actually not becauseof that.
They're trying something new.
For the last few years we'vebeen staging on Walnut with not
just the self-built but also theconvoy coming down from the
Rose Bowl.
And this year they're going tolet the self-built convoy
together and then the other RoseBowl convoy will come

(07:22):
separately.
So they want to get us out ofthere and we have to get through
there, because they're runninga road race at midnight on the
parade route.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
I've worked several large scale events over the last
several years and it takes upall the resources of a city and
a community.
They always want to throw a 5Kinto the middle of it, maybe
because they already have theclosures or something, but just
to throw a wrench in the works,right, they want to throw a road
race in the middle of it.

Speaker 5 (07:51):
Yeah they started this last year.
Really.

Speaker 3 (07:53):
Yeah, amazing, amazing.
Well, john, we're going to letyou get back to getting all your
stuff together.
Congratulations.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
Thank you Great job.
We're looking at the float outthe door from our direction here
.
It's fantastic.

Speaker 3 (08:06):
And it's just.
People don't realize what ittakes to from the drawing.

Speaker 5 (08:12):
They don't realize it's a full year process.

Speaker 1 (08:14):
How many people are involved?
I know we're trying to wrap.

Speaker 5 (08:16):
We have to get you doing what you need to do, so
we'll have 300 people or morecome through in a day during
this week, what we call DecoWeek.
Between Christmas and NewYear's, the year-round
construction crew is maybe about20 or so.
We've got about six or eight ofus that are retired and come in

(08:37):
two or three days a week, andthen there's a larger contingent
that comes in on Saturdays.

Speaker 1 (08:42):
And after this is dismantled, after the events
this year, how long of a breakdo you get before you have to
start on next year Break Break.
Ah, there you go.

Speaker 5 (08:52):
Yeah, no, we're doing something year-round.
I mean, if we're not takingthis one apart or cleaning up
the steel that we're going toreuse from it, because on the
rack behind you you can see someof the steel that we've
salvaged from previous yearsfloats.
You know, it's a little bitthin this year, of course, right
now, because obviously a lot ofit's in the float Right.
But yeah, so you know we'll,it's going to take us at least a

(09:15):
couple of months to get, youknow, to get all of that, all of
the deconstruction completed,and then we're we're working on,
you know, um, and then we'rewe're working on, you know,
finalizing the design of thenext float, which our design
contest is already open.
Uh-huh, um, and and yeah, soyou know people think, oh, the
parade's over, so you've gotlots of time.

(09:40):
No it's January and February areactually two of our busiest
months, because not only Well,yeah, you've got the parade.
You've got the post parade inPasadena, you've got the post
parade here in Burbank, you'vegot the deconstruction which we
do January 11th.
We need lots of people to helpwith that.
We're going to be here all dayand we'll feed you lunch.

Speaker 1 (09:59):
Hey, now we've got to post a website or something
where people can sign up forthat.

Speaker 5 (10:02):
Burbankrosefloatcom.
You don't have to sign up inadvance, you just have to come
here.
You heard it here, yeah, andthen our design contest ends in
late January, and then the boardhas to get together and narrow
the designs down to the top sixor eight, and then the
membership has to rank those andthen we go to Pasadena with the
designs and somewhere in therewe have our annual elections.

(10:22):
Yeah, it's.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
Non-stop.
There's a smoke coming out ofthe volcano over there.
You might want to tend to thatGood good, I'm glad to hear that
.
That's a good thing, then.

Speaker 5 (10:31):
Yeah, it wasn't coming out very much before.
Okay, great, so I'm glad thatthey got it going.

Speaker 3 (10:35):
Well, john, again congratulations on a fantastic.
I mean thank you again as alifelong Burbank citizen that
what you guys do to these floatsis just amazing and I've gotten
to see so much of it up close.
People don't realize.
Thank you and thank you.

Speaker 5 (10:52):
People just do not realize how much is involved in
a float.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
We appreciate it.
We hope, when this goes on air,that we'll see it in Pasadena
with a banner in front.
That's what we hope for thoseare the prizes that you win.
And yep, you know the highestis sweepstakes.
We've won that in the past.
We've won the mayor's trophy.
Hopefully you're going to be.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
We know we'll be bringing something can't wait to
see it tomorrow morning.

Speaker 3 (11:17):
Yep same here.
Thank you very good.
Thank you, john.
Yep, oh, I'm sorry, I'm juststill looking over my notes.
We have a new guest Too late towrite your Christmas list?

Speaker 1 (11:27):
Yeah right.

Speaker 3 (11:28):
Well, I wanted to make sure I say we are going to
be talking now, steve Edwards.
Steve and I have known eachother for how long have you been
working on the floats, Steve?

Speaker 13 (11:37):
Probably around.
I've been building floats for37 years.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
Now they're jeez, have any of them sunk or have
they just floated?
Most of them have floated.

Speaker 3 (11:49):
You know, steve, it's getting late, steve has been
involved in Burbank TurnerMorozes for many years.
His title is actually vicepresident of operations, and
everything people see, he has ittucked away in that brain of
his.
Yes, I mean from the hydraulicsto the pyro, to the music, to
the wheels turning on everything.

Speaker 13 (12:09):
Got my hands in everything.

Speaker 3 (12:10):
And you know what, steve, I got to applaud you.
You have done a fantastic job.
I know you used to work over atthat place called WB.
Yes, you were there for many,many years and you have a brain
for technology.
And I tell you, the hydraulicsyou brought that to Burbank.
And what do you think?

Speaker 1 (12:31):
All the moving pieces and parts Tell me everything.

Speaker 13 (12:34):
Well, let's go over this float here.
So, as you may have heard, thetheme of the Rose Parade is Best
Day Ever and this float it'smuch smaller in person than I
thought it would be.
And this particular float hasabout a dozen baby dinosaurs and
they are having a lava fun.

(12:55):
This is the title of the float.
See what you did there.
Yes, and we start off at thefront of the float, this big guy
here with a long neck.
He's going to have a couplefish hanging out of his mouth
that are hanging on with deerlife onto some kelp and he's
going to twist it back and forthand they're just going to have
so much fun swinging around.
We have two more dinosaurs tothe side here, on the right side

(13:17):
, what we call the camera sideof the float, and they're going
to be running, so they're goingto be bouncing back and forth
here playing, and we have foundtwo more dinosaurs.
They found a big rock thathappens to teeter-totter seesaw
back and forth.
So these two are going to haveso much fun.
Two more dinosaurs, one on eachside, the camera side and what
we call the off-camera side.

(13:38):
They just popped out of theirshells, their eggs here and
they're spinning around.
And we've got a couplepterodactyls.
We got one in its nest, oneflying off to the side here.
That's not animated, by the way, but it is hanging off the side
of the float here.
They're hovering, they'rehovering, sailing even, and you
can see.

(13:58):
Once you see the characters,you can see how happy they are.
They're having so much fun.
Except there's one, one way inthe back, this poor T-Rex.
He's got a really pouty faceand that is because all the
other dinos put him in a timeoutfor biting.

Speaker 1 (14:15):
Oh, you don't want that.
Well, we know those T-Rexesyeah, Short arms but big teeth.

Speaker 3 (14:20):
Yes, people, steve, real quickly.
They don't realize that floatis being built here in Burbank.
Yes, it's got to get toPasadena.

Speaker 13 (14:28):
That's what we're about getting ready to do right
now.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
And people don't realize that volcano won't fit
under underpasses and won't goeverywhere.

Speaker 1 (14:38):
If you go fast enough .

Speaker 13 (14:40):
Let's talk about that real quick, if you don't
mind.
The float is 46 feet long, 18feet wide and the volcano is 23
feet tall.
Now we build in a building thathas a door that's at 15 feet 10
inches.
That's a problem.
Even our dinosaur, our frontdinosaur head, is also over 16

(15:04):
feet.
So we have a couple of problemswith this float.
It can't get out of thebuilding and to do that we use a
variety of hydraulics.
The front dinosaur's head, thewhole neck, will tilt down and
the volcano is actually in twosections and at elevators it
sucks into itself.

Speaker 1 (15:25):
Oh so we're just seeing the bottom half of it
right now, right now, yes,you're only seeing the bottom
half.

Speaker 13 (15:29):
It's going to raise up much higher.
So, like I said, up to 23 feet.
There's literally a forkliftmast inside and that's the
mechanism that we use to raiseand lower it like a forklift,
like an elevator.
Amazing, the mad elevatorAmazing.

Speaker 1 (15:45):
The mad scientist.

Speaker 3 (15:46):
Yes, he is.
He wears a white robe or awhite jumpsuit.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
So did Doc in Back to the Future.

Speaker 3 (15:55):
And it just go ahead.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
One thing you mentioned that I didn't want to
let fly by too quick.
Is you mentioned camera side?
Yes, Now somebody's looking atthis model.
This is an early model of it.
The actual one is all floweredup and very colorful now.
But when you say camera side,what do you mean for everybody
listening?

Speaker 13 (16:12):
Yes, so the right side of the float is considered
camera side.
And why am I using these terms,these float terms, here?
That's because, as the paradestarts down Orange Grove
Boulevard and makes its famousright-hand turn onto Colorado,
on the right-hand side are thebig grandstands, and at the top
of the grandstands that's whereyou find all your broadcasters

(16:32):
and their TV cameras.
So we always call this thecamera side.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
Everybody watching it at home the parade on New
Year's Day.
They're going to see the rightside of this float.

Speaker 13 (16:43):
They only get to see one side of a float.

Speaker 1 (16:45):
There's still stuff on the left side for the crowd
watching.

Speaker 13 (16:48):
There's a lot going on on the off-camera side Part
of the tournament says, eventhough for cameras it's really a
one-sided float, but there'salmost a million people watching
it live down thatfive-and-a-half-mile parade
route.
We want to give both sides agreat show, absolutely well,
steve, I'm real quick during.

Speaker 3 (17:10):
I know you get the float from burbank to pasadena
come six o'clock.
The judging comes out comeeight o'clock.
You guys are moving.
Where are you doing this wholeoperation?

Speaker 1 (17:21):
well, I know some people are taking naps because
it's the only chance to get to,but I have a feeling you're
going to be busy.

Speaker 13 (17:27):
I will be busy, but I am going to take a little bit
more of a backseat.
Literally so we have our ownparade that goes from Burbank to
Pasadena.
This is a anyone who's seenthis float move.
It's quite the show.
It starts off in the beginningwith a pilot truck and a dump
truck literally a dump truckwhere we have to have people

(17:49):
inside the dump truck, on thebed of it, looking forward and
backward for trees.
We don't want to hit anything.
Then, of course, the floatitself.
This float does not tow like aregular trailer.
It does not track.
So we literally have somebodysitting in the float with the
engine on.
So they have this powersteering and the power brakes to
steer the float in conjunctionwith our dump truck.

(18:12):
Then we have another pilotvehicle, then we have a support
vehicle behind that Circling.
All of that is about seven toeight of our Burbank's finest PD
motors keeping us safe andmaking sure everyone stays away
from the float.
I will be following rightbehind that official convoy.
Hopefully I get to take it easyfor a little bit in a nice

(18:33):
comfy seat and stay warm until Iget to Pasadena.

Speaker 1 (18:36):
Hopefully.

Speaker 13 (18:37):
That's the plan.
That's the plan.
But if there's anything that'swrong, I'm right there and we
jump in.

Speaker 3 (18:44):
Well, most people don't realize that the float
does get there early.
Yes, If you have, you know,hitting those road bumps.
I know Burbank streets arepretty well paved, but when you
get into some of the other goingup Colorado.

Speaker 1 (18:57):
It's not a straight line, that's for sure.

Speaker 3 (18:59):
That's right.
Things fall off.
Yes, Things move.
So you guys pick them up, putthem in the dump truck and there
, when you were in Pasadenaprior to the parade, you guys
are doing.

Speaker 13 (19:10):
Doing repairs, doing repairs.
So that's kind of why we'rebehind.
We follow the float and then wescan the street as we're going
along, because every now andthen you know something, maybe a
little bit bigger.
Sometimes a little flower willfall off, sometimes something
bigger than a flower will falloff, and then we have to collect
it, hopefully no wheels oranything like that.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
How long of a trip is this, if it all goes smoothly?
It?

Speaker 13 (19:31):
will so our route.
We can tell it.
It's on your website.
It's on our website.

Speaker 1 (19:36):
You hinted to it last interview.

Speaker 13 (19:39):
So we are going to hook up here on Flower Street,
the corner of Flower and Olive,and then we're going to proceed
down Flower to Western, fromWestern to San Fernando, san
Fernando to Colorado.
Colorado will take us all theway through Glendale, eagle Rock

(20:03):
, over that famous ColoradoBridge to Orange Grove, that
famous corner, orange Grove inColorado.
But instead of turning right orgoing straight, we have to go
away from that.
We're going to go left onOrange Grove to Walnut.
There, at Walnut, we have towait for the Cal Poly, la Cunada
and Sierra Madre convoys andonce all four of us are there,
then they're going to allow usto proceed down Walnut to Fair
Oaks.
Fair Oaks, we're going to cutin at California, california to

(20:25):
Orange Grove, and that's wherewe'll disconnect and we'll drive
the float up to our parkingspot where we'll spend the night
.
So it's parade time.
So are you parked in order?
All floats are parked in order.
So what they do.
So you're asking about timing.
It will take us approximatelytwo hours 15 minutes to get from

(20:46):
Burbank to Walnut Street.
Then there's an unknown amountof time that we have to wait for
all the other floats to arriveand to get the clearance that we
can cross Fair Oaks and overColorado Boulevard.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
No distractions here, but there are flames shooting
out of the top of the float.
The volcano's working Knock onwood.
We'll have to get some footageof that before they go.

Speaker 13 (21:13):
I'm glad that's planned flames, by the way, just
planned flames this time thistime.

Speaker 1 (21:22):
I can't wait to see it tomorrow.

Speaker 13 (21:24):
I'm really hopeful that I'm in our parking spot
before midnight.
Last few years it's been aftermidnight and then we start our
repairs and checks and hopefullyget a few hours of sleep before
we have to get ready in themorning yeah, the earlier you
get into place, the earlier youcan maybe uh in a few hours have
a long blink well, I know youhave a float to move out

(21:48):
momentarily, steve I, I want tothank you for joining us today
and congratulations, uh, youknow you said you've worked on
them for so many years.

Speaker 3 (21:57):
I know you, we've had a good relationship and you
have put together a fantasticfloat.
Thank, you.

Speaker 13 (22:05):
I'm very hopeful on this float.
It's looking spectacular.

Speaker 3 (22:10):
I know the judges were here earlier judging.
There were a lot of smiles onthose four judges.

Speaker 1 (22:16):
How could you not?
Even if you're supposed to beimpartial like a judge?
I mean, you can't not smilelooking at this float.

Speaker 13 (22:24):
Unfortunately I was inside the float so I did not
get to see them.
I was making sure everythingwas running properly.
They were smiling.
They were smiling.
That's good.
I like to hear that.

Speaker 3 (22:34):
They were rather impressed.

Speaker 13 (22:35):
So just to wrap it up here, we have at 6 am
tomorrow morning on the frontsteps of the Wrigley Mansion,
which is also referred to asTournament House.
The president of the Tournamentof Roses will come out that
front door with a piece of paperin his hand.
We really hope our name is onthat piece of paper.

Speaker 3 (22:53):
Yes, well, I'm pretty sure, looking at this float,
we'll be on that piece of papersomewhere.
Again, thank you very much,steve.
Thank you, thank you for theenergy and everything that you
put out to do this every year.
I mean, I know you lose a lotof sleep.
You're here weird hours,weekends, oh yeah, certain days.

Speaker 1 (23:13):
Thank you, thank you Well done and best of luck
tomorrow.

Speaker 13 (23:16):
Thank you very much, appreciate it.
Thanks, steve.
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (23:19):
Wow, we happen to have the president, burbank
Turtle and Roses Linda Kazakos.
Linda and I go back to the 70s.
We worked on the float together.
I was a board member, I wasvice president at one time.
You have been doing this foryour whole life.

Speaker 8 (23:41):
I have.
I've been doing it now.
This year will be 50 years.
I'm 62 years old, so I startedat 12 years old.

Speaker 3 (23:47):
Wow and, as most people might be able to tell,
you've lost your voice, which ispretty common.
The last week of the year youknow it's just the flu runs
rapid, the colds run rapid andour weather's been crazy.
Linda, I know the president hassome special duties to do, but
before that I want to say youdesigned a couple of floats, one

(24:18):
back in 2016, and we came homewith an award.
Your son, brian, designed afloat in 2019, and we came home
with an award.
You know we've won a lot ofawards.
That I know.
And what do you think oftoday's float?

Speaker 8 (24:30):
I think today's float is spectacular.
I'm 99.9% positive that we aregoing to bring home an award.
It's just what award that webring home?
Always keep in mind that theaward is just the icing on the
top of the cake.

Speaker 3 (24:45):
Correct.
People don't realize it's ayear-round operation for you and
I mean the details and choosinga float and everything that
goes along with getting thisfloat into Pasadena.
I mean there's tons of meetingsthat you do, you represent
Burbank and so forth, and Inotice people don't realize

(25:11):
these floats get prejudged.
There was a judging yesterdaylooking at certain things.
Today there was a judging.
I was there for that and Ithink we'll probably insert a
picture or two.
There were some smiling judgesthere.

Speaker 8 (25:25):
There was.
There was Yesterday when theycame around.
They were very intrigued with afew things.
We wanted to give them the wowfactor today, with the volcano,
the critters and other elementsthat we added and I think we
really stepped up our game andwith the floral displays that we
had this year, I believe thatwe really stepped up the game

(25:45):
and they were very pleased withwhat they saw today.

Speaker 3 (25:48):
Well, people don't realize the animatronics,
everything that worked togetherwhen they were here.
That'll be going on five milesdown, or at least down Camero,
as the float makes its turn.
As Steve said, once you comeoff of Orange Grove down
Colorado, it's pretty impressiveand you have been around this.

(26:11):
Like I said, when the judgeswere here, they were just it was
nice to see them so happy andyou hope that translates you are
, we're judged differently.
There's, you know, people don'trealize those commercial floats
being done by for Rotary or forthe Boys and Girls Club.
Those are commercially donefloats that have half a million

(26:33):
a million dollars to do them.
Burbank is self-built floatsthat half a million a million
dollars to do them.
Yep, Burbank is self-built.
Burbank has self-built our ownfloat for many years.
This is a community event.
I mean you have we've talked tosome people that, like yourself
, that have been doing this foryears come, you know, deco Week,
what we call Deco Week, butthis is a family operation, kind

(26:59):
of.
Look at yourself today Got apicture of you, your son and
your new grandson.
You know I'm three generationsthere that have worked on
Burbank Float and I know we'rekind of rushed this year.
Some of the jobs that you're incharge of being president.
Give us a, you know, kind of around, because I know you do a

(27:23):
lot.

Speaker 8 (27:25):
I do answer to the city for different events.
I hold different events outsidea national night out and other
events that are needed.
I run the board meeting once amonth, the general meeting once
a month.
I help answer emails.
I help take care of questionsand answers from Pasadena
Tournament of Roses, answermedia questions, general email

(27:49):
questions and help keep the crewcalm and collected, and so
there's nothing going on duringDacko Week with all of our
volunteers.

Speaker 3 (28:00):
And that's a big thing, people you know, if
you've ever been in anorganization, you always have
power pulls and so forth, and itstarts with the youngest all
the way up to you know everybody, and that just happens.
But the bottom line is thatfloat.
I was next to our city manager,justin Hess, and Courtney
Padgett.
They were in awe and they bothsaid this has to come back

(28:24):
winter.
I think we you and.
I look at them every year.
This does you know?
I think it should be one of thetop things If people wanted to
get involved.
You guys start in a week.

Speaker 8 (28:39):
Actually, technically , we started last September with
our 2026 Parade Design andFloat Contest.

Speaker 3 (28:45):
Wow, and that people can go online.
I thought.

Speaker 8 (28:48):
People can go online.
The rules are very simple.
It's no bigger than 11 by 17black and white drawing.
11, no bigger than 11 by 17black and white drawing.
The form is in an envelope inthe back with no name, only on
the registration form, so nobodyknows who's drawn what.
And that is submitted, Ibelieve, the second or third
week in January, and then thetheme for 2026 is announced and

(29:14):
in January the board will narrowit down to the top six or eight
selections and in Februarywe'll select our float that we
would like to design for 2026and present it to Pasadena.

Speaker 3 (29:25):
And you and I have seen and I'm not exaggerating
designs on napkins fromrestaurants.
Yes, I mean, if you have anidea and a Sharpie or a pen and
you're at a restaurant and youwant to be part of this, you can
enter a design.
If you've seen the parade, ifyou know, like you say on the

(29:47):
website, the rules andregulations of what you have to
do.
It's a community affair and Iknow the city donates some.
Your drivers like when we weretalking to Steve, the driver is
a city employee, the water andpower supplies you guys to help
build the train, the drive train, you get it over there.

(30:10):
You have city employees.
So that's how the city isinvolved quite a bit.
So that's how the city isinvolved quite a bit.
But a lot of the hands-on, theliterally separating leaves or
gluing on.
If people see the sign thatsays City of Burbank, those are
individual peas that areliterally glued on with tweezers

(30:32):
and you've got to have a lot ofpatience.
We're at the float barn, whichis under the olive overpass.
Um, I remember years ago we hada lot bigger room and then they
kind of gave this.
You know this is where it's ayear-round operation.
You have an upstairs and adownstairs and people are
literally separating differentthings, um of what goes on the

(30:55):
float and it just people don'trealize it all has to be natural
.
You know everything in it.
There's nothing you know and itjust it's a.

Speaker 8 (31:05):
I'm in awe every year and they are mung beans that
are on the city of burbank.
Sign really green mung beansare on that city of burbank.

Speaker 3 (31:13):
Sign that's the secret that not everybody will
know.
Watching that float.

Speaker 8 (31:18):
And nothing artificial, nothing dyed.
You can't change its naturalstate.
So you cannot spray somethingwith water and put it in the sun
to alter its natural state.

Speaker 3 (31:29):
Yeah, see all the rules you can blend it?

Speaker 8 (31:31):
Yep.
The only exception to the ruleis coffee.
They do allow roast coffee onthe float, and that is the only
exception to the rule, becausemany years ago a coffee maker
had a float the parade and ofcourse they wanted to feature
what they did best coffee.
And it stayed in the rule bookever since.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
Wow, see those.
And there's a lot of rules thatpass it in and not just anybody
can enter a float.
I mean it's a lot of rules atPasadena and not just anybody
can enter a float.
I mean it's a big process.
This is our 75th year, which isamazing in itself.
I think for every year tocontinue to do it, I know I look
out the barn door and they'rewrapping up cords and they're

(32:12):
getting stuff ready to thisconvoy.
It's leaving a little earlythis year.
This is the first year thatit's left this early.
But if people want to comeafter the parade, if you haven't
got, if you're a Burbankresident Olive and Glen Oaks at
the parking lot there theelectric parking lot the float

(32:33):
will be on display, you can getpictures with it, you can ask.
Quite a few of the decoratorswill be there and so forth, and
people can stop by buy somesouvenirs to have fun next year.

Speaker 8 (32:46):
Buy some souvenirs, possibly some leftover flowers.
Yep, it will be coming inFriday evening and leaving
Monday morning.

Speaker 3 (32:56):
So, as we've just been told that they're going to
run a show right now, get allthe animation going.
There's a good several hundredpeople here that make it a New
Year's tradition to come out andtake a look at the float before
it's in the parade.
Linda, congratulations, thankyou so much.
I know I will be seeing you thenext couple of days.

(33:17):
Hopefully you'll get that voicetotally back.
Hopefully you'll get some sleep.

Speaker 8 (33:22):
Well, I'm doing a live interview.
I'm going convoy over tonight.
I will be staying over.
I will be doing the liveinterview between, I believe,
7.15 and 7.30 tomorrow morning.
I will also be walking with thefloat to designate when it's
time for those flames to be shotand then protect our float with
a fire extinguisher.
Heaven forbid somethinghappened.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
Yeah, people don't realize that you guys have had
fire drills.
Yes, I mean they, everything.
There's no stone unturned.
You know, if the float breaksdown, they require you to be
able to hook up and keep thatfloat moving.
It's a very I know they becausethe satellites they pay for a
lot of satellite time, which isvery expensive.

(34:03):
So we're going to let you goand go out there and talk to the
people with what you have leftof a voice and thank you very
much for joining us and, as alifelong Burbank citizen, thank
you.

Speaker 8 (34:16):
Thank you and Happy New Year to a lifelong Burbank
citizen.
Thank you, thank you and happynew year to all of Burbank
residents.
We really appreciate yoursupport and have a wonderful
time and come down and volunteer.

Speaker 3 (34:24):
I agree, thank you very much.
Happy new year.
Thank you.
Wow, I am so fortunate.
We are so fortunate, would youbelieve, craig, we have the
creator, the designer of thisyear's float, eric Anderson.

Speaker 1 (34:37):
Here I am, creative mind behind this amazing float.

Speaker 3 (34:42):
Eric, you and I have known each other for many, many
years.

Speaker 1 (34:46):
Many years Right here .
I don't know if he's never notsaid that to somebody we've
interviewed.
That's true.

Speaker 11 (34:52):
He is the man of Burbank.
Oh, what's going on?
Stuff's happening.
I think the float is going togo boom.

Speaker 1 (34:59):
He is the man of Burbank.
Oh, what's going on?

Speaker 11 (35:03):
Stuff's happening.
I think the float is going togo boom.
All right, you want to keeprolling or we're stopping?
No, we'll keep rolling.
Why don't we keep going?
I'm going to turn around andlook at this.
See if they raise the volcanoup.

Speaker 1 (35:10):
He said they're not going to fire it off, maybe
they'll raise it up.

Speaker 3 (35:22):
No, they should raise it up.
No, they should fire it, I hope.
Oh, he said he wasn't going toyou.
Oh, two minutes.
We have a two minute, all right, so let's get a question in we
can get a question amy eric, umyou've been, you're also the
historian.
Historian, yeah or uh?
You've been involved with herb.
I term roses for how many years?

Speaker 4 (35:32):
43 you're not that old dude has it been going on
that long?
I didn't, we are was going onthat long.

Speaker 11 (35:37):
We are celebrating our 75th anniversary this year.
So yes, but it is shocking tothink I've been around longer
than half of that.

Speaker 3 (35:45):
Isn't that amazing.

Speaker 11 (35:46):
Yeah, it's a little daunting.
Actually, You've grown up withit.

Speaker 3 (35:49):
Yeah, I have.

Speaker 11 (35:50):
I was 14 when I started.

Speaker 3 (35:51):
There you go Well.
Well, you know, as I introducedyou, I said the designer this
is your float.
Yeah, it is.
This is your concept, this isyour idea.

Speaker 1 (36:02):
He said he wants his model back.
I don't want to give it back.

Speaker 11 (36:06):
Half-inch model that I built for construction.

Speaker 3 (36:09):
Well, you know, tell us, Eric, where did this come
from in your mind?
And you've seen every float foryears.
You've seen what others thecity, other self-built do.
This is an amazing float.

Speaker 11 (36:25):
Oh, thank you guys.

Speaker 3 (36:25):
I'll tell you it.

Speaker 4 (36:26):
Just seeing it earlier you heard that, huh,
they're going to start theengine.
Oh, all, right, we got to getan answer out of them before we
yeah.

Speaker 11 (36:34):
I know I was headed to a really good question there.

Speaker 1 (36:36):
Ask them a question oh, where did this call come
from?
What is the genesis of?
The year my mind.
It came from my mind.

Speaker 11 (36:44):
Now you know, being in the association for 43 years
every year, you know they askthe public to submit ideas and I
designed this 34 years ago forfun and games.
So if you look at the float andyou look at the theme of the
Rose Parade for that year funand games what are the dinosaurs
doing?
They're playing and having funand games.

(37:04):
I think how I came up with itwas I've always been inspired by
Disney and the railway.
When you go into the past andyou see all the dinosaurs.
So if you look at thebarosaurus at the front, instead
of chewing on seaweed orsomething from the train ride, I
said, well, wouldn't it be cuteif he's giving these two fish a
ride of their you know life?

(37:25):
And actually they are gettingright of their life.
Man, those things are flappingall around up there.
That's kind of cute oh, thevolcano is going up there, it
goes wow so hopefully they'llfire the fire, because I've only
seen the fire go off twice outof the funds and there goes the
animation, the dinosaur'sturning.

Speaker 4 (37:42):
Everything's moving now.
Yeah, so you can see the fishin the front there.
Hopefully you can see a littlebit of that on the camera.
I really think those fish arenot going to make it through the
parade.
They just need to make it bythe cameras, right?

Speaker 11 (37:53):
Well, that's normally the tradition of
Burbank is just make it bycamera row.
Who cares what happensafterwards?
But boy that fish in the front.
Okay, here comes our sounddesign.
Sound design was done by HudsonMiller, who is actually a
visual effects I'm sorry, asound effects editor in the
business and he's actuallystanding right there filming and

(38:15):
listening to his own thing.
Oh, that's the music we'rehearing, actually from ben
canard, a composer who has donesix uh songs for us for the
floats, a really talented guyand, uh, we work together I um
on the music for it.
Um, I always, uh, you know, uh,I always wanted to betempo and

(38:36):
have marching band elements init, because that's who we're
competing against in the paradeand, as you can hear if you
listen to it, that's what it has.
That does sound like a marchingband, yeah, exactly, and it
could, totally they could takethis and be a marching band,
yeah.
So I always wanted to beup-tempo and something you could
dance to or move to, and it'sexciting to see the uh, the

(38:57):
people who gather around andstart tapping their toes and
stuff, because that's exactlywhat it's about is.
It's giving you that energy.
And then also, you hear in thetheme right now, uh, the child
like uh elements.
You know the in the theme, um,and you'll hear the theme will
transition into kind of aplayful running, like a let's
hear it again, because it's likeevery time I hear it, you know.

(39:19):
So this is like a running.
You know running playing partof the score, you know, you know
they're just having fun.
Basically, the paras in thefront, the parasaurus, the
running dinosaurs, you know thisfeels like their theme right
here.
Uh, on that, um.
So even in the music and designand flow, I'm very involved,

(39:40):
very involved in the soundeffects.
You know, uh, the, with hudsonmaking the sounds that'll rumble
and the volcano will go off.
This is, this is a soaringtheme.
You know, kind of them playingand and uh achieving their goals
in a way, you know, because itjust gives you that that, uh
like, they're trying to reachfor something with playing
together.
Coming up with the design, too,is that all these dinosaurs are

(40:03):
different species but yet theycan play in harmony together and
I think it's kind of a worldmessage that we can all get
along.
That's what I came up with whenI designed it.

Speaker 3 (40:15):
Well, you know, again , putting all those elements
together, you have created amasterpiece.
Very nice of you to say howfine.

Speaker 1 (40:26):
A tip does your say have on this float down to the
flowers that are used, or is itmore of a color palette choice?

Speaker 11 (40:33):
That's a tricky question for me because I don't
know if I want to say anythingyet, but I don't know.
Oh, I'll say this the BurbankTournament of Roses, when I
joined it was very designerheavy, meaning that the designer
was top of the pyramid.
That is no longer the structureof our association and it's a

(40:54):
now power dynamic on thatstructure of our association and
it's a now power dynamic onthat.
So it was very hard for me thisyear to push this design
through and and achieve thisvision which you are currently
watching.
I think there were a lot ofheadwinds against me on it, um,
but uh, somehow I justpersevered and took one for the

(41:14):
team to show that this is thetype of float these guys can
build, and the reason they canbuild it is because the talent
is amazing in this association.
I mean we have a lot of membersthat have been here for over 20
years.
You know what I mean in termsof building, decorating, our
decorating team, the people thatcome here every year have been
doing it over probably 30 years,most of them.

(41:36):
So we have a lot like.
Once we got throughconstruction I saw the bones of
the float.
I just said, well, we got itBecause Deco always brings it
through and you can see theyreally brought it through, you
know, and construction to givesuch a great foundation this
year.
It's just all successful.

(41:58):
And my personal goal in thisassociation always has been
because, going back when Ijoined the association, it was
dying Because, you know, you hadan old team and they were
trying to bring in young talentand I was one of them but they
couldn't bring in enough becausekids, you know who wants to
build a float or be involved inthe association for so long.
And when Pasadena Tournament ofR roses almost kicked us out of

(42:21):
the parade in 87, when I wasvice president of the
association, you know we wentinto city council and we fought
to keep what was created byesther klein back in 1949.
Her vision of this could be acommunity built float sponsored
by the community, meaningbringing in the whole community,
getting the flowers from thecommunity, getting the money

(42:42):
from the community, because evenback then the float was
cancelled.
They had entered, you know, thewar had ended and they came
back into the parade Burbank didand the city in 1947, was
Isabel Coleman actually designedour float and built it?
She's a legend in the RoseParade world and then I'm trying

(43:03):
to figure out what the nextyear, if it was her company
again that built it.
But the fact is that the citycame back into the parade as
having a professionally builtfloat.
Then, of course, pass Streetabove Magnolia needed a sewer
line that was over budget andthey canceled the budget for the
Rose Parade.
They said let's take that twogrand and roll it into that
sewer line.

(43:23):
So every time I drive on Passnow I crack up that it almost
killed Burbank being in the RoseParade, that one sewer line
that we all use now.
But luckily, like I said, estherKlein came in and she had this
vision that still persists todaywith our association and that
is it is a community effort.
Everybody is involved.
We reach out to the communityand this float represents that

(43:45):
this year, because I reallyrelied on the community to pull
this float off with our Orchid.
You know, our great Orchidfundraiser is a great example
and I was able to raise $3,000to get the orchids that you
currently see on the float.
And it was really nice to seethe public coming in yesterday
to place their orchid on thefloat and also the support that

(44:08):
I got through my friends andfamily this year on that.
They really rallied around andhelped me Because they all knew
this was a heavy lift for thisassociation and I really believe
when I did design this float,that it could not have been
built back then, and that was aninteresting question.

(44:28):
When I did win, it sat in thedrawer and when the theme was
announced the best day ever,it's like, oh, this design is
perfect for that.
The dinosaurs are having theirbest day ever.
It's like, oh, this design isperfect for that.
The dinosaurs are having theirbest day ever, right, except for
the t-rex who's having a timeout at the back of the float,
you know, for biting, of course,um, and that's he's looking
very sad yeah, he's looking verysad, but what's really funny is

(44:48):
that's um designing it backthen I had him snapping at the
the uh pterodactyl flying around, you know, because he was
supposed to fly around at thetop of the volcano.
Well, now I know that wasimpossible, because it was
impossible for us to do thatkind of thing today.
But with that I thought, well,what would happen if a T-Rex was

(45:08):
doing a child?
T-rex was doing that.
Of course he'd be placing atimeout and I really believe
that's what pushed this designinto the winning column just
that one little, you know he'shaving a timeout for biting,
because that's just so typicalof any child to get.

Speaker 1 (45:24):
I'm glad this concept was finally born.

Speaker 4 (45:27):
And we're all going to get to enjoy it in the parade
tomorrow.
Yes, now that it's done, right.

Speaker 1 (45:30):
I'm really excited to see how the public reacts to it
and, judging by what I've seenso far from the judges to the
public, I think it's going to bea real crowd pleaser and
personally I congratulate youand thank you for your your
years of service with thisproject, and certainly not
without its bumps, bruises,hoops and and hurdles and
growing pains, but certainly alabor of love, I would say right

(45:52):
, yeah thank you again.

Speaker 3 (45:53):
I echo what Craig just said.
You and I've been around many,many, many years and I know what
you've gone through and I wason that board once and, yes, we
were dealing with some peoplethat were pretty set in their
ways.
I mean, you did it their way,or goodbye it is, it hasn't
changed, funny enough but I'lltell you, looking at the judges

(46:15):
today, as I said to Linda, whowere laughing and smiling, yes,
they enjoyed looking at thisfloat.
They really did.
I think that will transcendtomorrow when the judges come
out with their award winning.

Speaker 11 (46:27):
I knew when we had the float built that we had an
award winner because, like Isaid, deco brings their A game.
So if the bones of the floatare that strong, you know?
Look at the animation on it.

Speaker 4 (46:38):
It's just amazing as we watch the volcano come back
down, come back down to getunder the Sierra Madre.

Speaker 1 (46:45):
Bridge has to do it, to get out of the building here.

Speaker 11 (46:47):
Well, that's what's great about our building is, if
we can get out of the building,we can be in the parade Because
all floats have to lower to thatrequirement.
All floats have to lower tothat requirement.
But you know a self-goal of meand being in the association,
what I was trying to get at withrebuilding this association
when I was vice president isthat watching the parade through

(47:07):
the years shrink because of theeconomy or budgets or corporate
sponsors not wanting to spendthe money that they used to, the
parade is definitely shrinking.
They're looking to restructurethe way the parade is run.
You'll notice this year thatit'll be more Macy's-like, with
much more entertainment on thefloats.
I'm kind of curious to see howthat works out for them.
No giant balloons though.

(47:28):
No giant balloons yet.
You'll never see them in theRose Parade because well, you
did see one, superman way back Ithink in the 80s or early 90s,
which was a balloon back then,but that was the closest they
came to the Macy's parade onthat one.
But the fact being is I alwaysthought this association could
build a not only award-winningfloat but the top award, and we

(47:49):
have done it before, I think1961 and 1956.
Remember that one no, page one.
Well, you know, if you lived inBurbank all your life, you might
you know.

Speaker 1 (48:03):
That's Burbank history, Right exactly.

Speaker 11 (48:05):
So the fact that Burbank has won sweepstakes
because I did hear anotherself-pilots say, oh, self-pilots
have never won I'm like, uh,burbank has.
But I've always thought andwill again Well, from your lips
you know, because I always feltwe had the talent in this
association to do it.
And I think this floatrepresents that talent, with all
the people that brought their Agame to this oh yeah ah they're

(48:31):
putting the convoy togetherbeing ready to roll the float to
pasadena big move just in timeyeah well, eric.

Speaker 3 (48:37):
Again, as a lifelong burbank resident, I want to
thank you not only for yourfriendship, but also for your
energy, your concept, your ideas.
Keep it up, stick around,please.
You know, I know the float whenit comes back to Burbank in a
couple of days.
It'll be on display, but you,hopefully, will be there.

Speaker 11 (48:57):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (48:58):
Burbank citizens come out and thank you personally.

Speaker 11 (49:01):
This is a little bit of a love letter to Burbank too
.
I love this city and that's whyI'm in this association is to
give back to the city.
I love the people that comehere, I love interacting with
them and I I love interactingwith them and I enjoy everybody.
And you owe me that photo thatyou took of me in, I think, 1984
, of me decorating a star.

Speaker 1 (49:22):
You got this perfect photo he knows what box it's in.

Speaker 11 (49:24):
Yeah exactly, I'm still waiting for the original
print of that photo instead ofthe newspaper print, because I
think that would complement.

Speaker 1 (49:30):
Well, we're talking about the float here.
We're talking about the float,you know on our table here, eric
, we have.

Speaker 3 (49:36):
You know, I'm going to let you hold up one of these
roses, you know, and then cheers, cheers, to a great 2025.

Speaker 11 (49:44):
I think the Explorer Rose, I think that one is.

Speaker 3 (49:47):
And people don't realize.
With these, vials get filledwith water.
Yes, there's water in them.
They get not only filled withwater, but each vial gets
cleaned after the float andreused.

Speaker 1 (50:01):
Yes, or do they have to sanitize it?
I?

Speaker 11 (50:03):
think this vial is from when I first joined the
association.
To tell you the truth, ohreally, these things are old.

Speaker 1 (50:11):
Stories this vial could tell Exactly.

Speaker 11 (50:12):
How many parades?

Speaker 3 (50:14):
Right.
You know, yeah, but again,thank you.
Thank you, eric.
Tomorrow I will be thereshooting pictures of it.
I look forward to seeing abanner in front of it that says
sweepstakes.

Speaker 1 (50:27):
And I'm going to be watching it at home in my
jammies.
Yeah, there you go, if we don'tachieve sweepstakes, you know.

Speaker 11 (50:33):
At least, we reached for it at the end of the day.

Speaker 1 (50:35):
I certainly deserving of it in my humble opinion.
So good luck tomorrow.
Thank you very much.

Speaker 11 (50:39):
Fingers crossed.

Speaker 3 (50:40):
There you go, thank you, thank you.
We have with us Roseanne andBob Ford.
They are probably two of themost important people that are
around.

Speaker 1 (50:54):
Look at these desserts they made for us.
We even have a close-up of oneof them.
Are you behind these?
They're staring at us right now.

Speaker 12 (51:01):
Those, were a surprise to us.
Oh really, that's great.
Those were two of our peoplethat have been here all week.
They ran home and baked themand brought them back, and we
were delighted.
No, kidding.

Speaker 1 (51:12):
Well, they're handing them out and we can't wait to
dig into it.

Speaker 3 (51:14):
Well, what?
You guys, the listening publicthat sees this great float go
down Colorado Boulevard, don'trealize the days of feeding all
the people that put thoseflowers on it.
You guys are in charge of thekitchen.
There's a whole kitchen.
We're in the kitchen.
There's a whole kitchen.

Speaker 1 (51:34):
We're in a warehouse.
There's a whole kitchen backhere.

Speaker 12 (51:37):
Well, not a full kitchen.
It's a break area.

Speaker 3 (51:41):
Right, right, Well, during the normal part of the
year, but it takes a lot.
Many years ago, when I was partof the board, I would make vats
of chili and we would have thesmokehouse give us loaves and
loaves of garlic bread andpeople all night long.
That's when we used to work allnight long, working on float,
and it's changed quite a bit.

(52:02):
But you guys run the kitchenhere and I was here the other
day.
People are enjoying the food,enjoying the nourishment.

Speaker 1 (52:11):
They need it.
People are working some longhours here, you need to keep the
energy up.

Speaker 10 (52:15):
It's what you've got to do, and it's thanks to all
the different restaurants intown that donated that make it
all possible.

Speaker 3 (52:23):
Well, that's what we hear and people when they think
of a community effort.
You guys are very fortunate tohave some restaurants here in
town that go beyond.

Speaker 12 (52:35):
It's the generosity of these restaurants.
We have Barragans, Micho Mas,Lancer's, Martino's, Western
Bagel.
Chick-fil-a.
Chick-fil-a.
Raising Cane's.
Yeah, he goes and gets it everyday.

Speaker 1 (52:56):
I'm the gopher.
Are you the quality control guy?
Yeah, you have to do all thetesting.

Speaker 3 (53:00):
Well, it's funny you say that because I was talking.
We have a new bagel place intown.
Yes, oh, bagel Boss, and theyare one of our advertisers and I
spoke to the owner the otherday.
They normally close at 3.
And I spoke to the owner theother day.
They normally close at 3, andwhen they're done during the
normal year, the schools comeand get their extra bagels.

Speaker 1 (53:19):
So I talked to the owner.
This is a big moment.
Sorry to interrupt, but thefloat is pulling out.

Speaker 3 (53:24):
It's moving, it's rolling.

Speaker 1 (53:25):
Ever so slowly.
It's starting to pull out.
It's going to start its journeyto Pasadena for the parade
tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (53:35):
And I talked to the owner and you know there's no
school.

Speaker 12 (53:36):
So he has bagels for you guys.

Speaker 3 (53:37):
I'm going to hit him up, he said he would be glad to
help you out.

Speaker 12 (53:40):
We have.
The restaurants have been justso generous, and Handy Market
and Coral Cafe and they're justso.
They realize the need that wehave and they realize the
importance of float and all thevolunteers and we feed about

(54:02):
between 95 to 125.

Speaker 1 (54:05):
We fed 141 today and it's the perfect way for these
businesses to give back yes,don't.

Speaker 12 (54:12):
And other than monetarily, yes, with their
wonderful food and I have likeum claudine at chili john's, I
get a call from her.
If I don't call her and shedoesn't get a letter, she calls
me well, that's what we're.

Speaker 3 (54:26):
You know people will be listening to our podcasts and
next year if you own arestaurant we have quite a few
you'll put that food to use.
They need you, we need you.
It continues that community andwhen you're out shopping or
when you go to those restaurants, you can mention that you heard
on the podcast at the Floatthat you guys donated and give

(54:50):
them a thanks.

Speaker 12 (54:51):
We put their name on a board and we tell the people
as they go through the linewhere it's from.
And please, if you go there,tell them.
Thank you for donating.

Speaker 3 (55:02):
Well, you know what?
If you supply me that list,we'll run it through on the
credits when we finish our showDefinitely.
Because they need a pat and athank you.

Speaker 12 (55:13):
And I also have a family that came down and
donated a meal for us on Sunday,and that was so appreciated.

Speaker 3 (55:24):
Well, we want to thank you.
I know the float, the convoy isgetting moving.
Yep, you guys have kitchen toclean up and wrap up because
it's going to be a little quietin here for the next Until the
11th, and then we're going totear it all apart and start over
.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
You are two people, lovely people, that no one on
this team here, the hundreds ofpeople involved in this whole
process, can do without.

Speaker 3 (55:46):
So you serve a very important role here and you just
kind of clued it off.
If people want to work on thefloat what they call take it
apart, right, you will feed themon the 11th.

Speaker 12 (55:58):
Yes, we will, we'll be here.

Speaker 1 (56:00):
And they just show up on the 11th.

Speaker 12 (56:01):
They can show up and fill out a form and sign in.

Speaker 3 (56:05):
Suggest you bring your own gloves, definitely.
Wear some dirty clothes,because you'll get dirty and you
know what, maybe a bottle ofwater.

Speaker 1 (56:11):
You'll get dirty, and you know what?
Maybe a bottle of water or areusable?
Water bottle or somethingProper, shoes, this is where it
starts.

Speaker 12 (56:16):
It is a work environment.
It is a work environment and ifthey want to get involved all
year.
There are things to do all yearlong.

Speaker 1 (56:24):
Yep, that's what we learned tonight.
At least I learned tonight.
This is a never-ending process.
Put it together or breaking itdown?
Are you putting it?

Speaker 10 (56:31):
together or breaking it down.
For us it's about a 13 or14-month process because we're
working right now on the design,getting the design going.

Speaker 1 (56:43):
So you work a 14-month year?
Yeah, you work a 14-month year,right.

Speaker 3 (56:48):
Well, roseanne and Bob, I want to thank you so much
.
Thank you, like I said, thepeople that and everybody I've
heard from people were eatingburritos and everything else
that I saw.
You always have coffee going, Iwish I showed up more.

Speaker 1 (57:06):
Yeah, there's hot chocolate back there.
I'm going to bust open a cup ofthat in a minute.
It's starting to get a littlechilly in here.

Speaker 12 (57:12):
And we do have wiener schnitzel and Taco Bell
that are very generous to us.
So you know, go get a hot dogand a taco.

Speaker 1 (57:21):
You don't have to tell me twice.

Speaker 3 (57:23):
Well, thank you, happy New Year's.
Yes, I know you will like uslook forward to seeing a banner
in front of our float tomorrowwith an award, and I know we
will come back with an award.

Speaker 1 (57:36):
And hopefully you can enjoy the fruits of your labor
and watch the parade tomorrow.

Speaker 12 (57:40):
Oh, yeah, yes.

Speaker 3 (57:41):
In a warm house.
Set up in the barn.

Speaker 12 (57:44):
Fireplace on there you go.

Speaker 3 (57:47):
Thank you.
Well again.
Thank you and Happy New Year.

Speaker 12 (57:50):
Thank you so much.
Happy New Year.
Happy New Year.

Speaker 3 (57:53):
We have one of our last interviews because the barn
is getting empty.
Last but not least, convoy hasheaded taken the float.
I want to introduce James Combs.
Now, if you're around Burbank,annie, james Combs wears a
couple of different hats in thecity and that's where it shows

(58:13):
that this is a community affair,community event.
James is also chairman of ourBurbank Police Commission.
He works for LA County, has hisnormal 9-to-5 job.
A couple years ago he gotinvolved with the Turnaround
Roses.
He will say that he's the headbottle washer in the room.

Speaker 1 (58:34):
Well, when he walked up, he said I just push a broom
around here.
I don't believe him.

Speaker 9 (58:38):
Not even the head bottle washer.

Speaker 3 (58:40):
But, james, you've been around.

Speaker 1 (58:42):
Your contribution, your wife's contribution, I mean
it's a family process and Ijust want to share what have you
got there in that pail?

Speaker 9 (58:52):
Oh, this is a box of rice and it's.
So I'm not and I just want toshare.
What have you got there in thatpail?
Oh, this is a box of rice andso I'm not detailed into the
deco stuff.
So I kind of make stuff up andeverything and I know there's
like a gazillion different typesof rice and somebody can talk
to you about like the texture ofrice and grinding rice down and
the different colors and if youage it and whatever.
It's a box of rice but youdon't want to eat this rice
because it's probably beensitting there for a while.

Speaker 1 (59:14):
Now, just to clarify.
You didn't bring that to theinterview.
You happened to be walking bywith it when we grabbed you.

Speaker 9 (59:19):
I was walking by and you asked me to stop because I
was about to take that away.

Speaker 3 (59:26):
Well, you know it's.
Well you know, james.
Like I said, it goes to showpeople that on a Wednesday you
could be sitting at a policecommission meeting, yeah, and on
Saturday you put your gloves onin your jumpsuit, yep, and
you're pushing a room around thefloat barn.

Speaker 1 (59:43):
Hopefully you haven't brought a box of rice to the
commission meeting.
No, no, Used to cross the wiresthere.

Speaker 9 (59:48):
You know what?
We could try that See ifanybody notices.
I wouldn't have a problem withthat at all.
Try that See if anybody notices.

Speaker 3 (59:53):
I wouldn't have a problem with that at all.
Well, I know our producer anddirector, Craig Sherwood, wants
to do a podcast.
We will do that, a littledifferent one about the police
commission and so forth.
I know you're quite well suitedfor that one, thank you being
the chairman, and you've beenreelected, thank you.
But you know, are you amazed tolook into that float today?

Speaker 9 (01:00:14):
It's an amazing process seeing everything come
together.
There's so many differentpeople that are involved in this
.
We're involved in this yearround During Deco Week.
We get upwards of 1,500volunteers plus coming through
this space to be able to do thelast minute touches.
And there are folks that havebeen doing this for 30, 40 years
that just come in during DecoWeek.
And then there's folks thatjust started this year that

(01:00:35):
they're working year-round.
We've got folks that areengineers and doctors.
There are people that actuallytravel from across the country
to come stay in Burbank for aweek, then literally walk across
the Olive Bridge from the hotelto come work on the float for
12, 16 hours a day, four or fivedays straight right after
Christmas, and then they'reflying home today just to go

(01:00:56):
catch a red eye, go back homeand everything, and this is just
what they do.
There are folks that areexperienced developmental delays
, that are involved in doingwhat they can to do the work and
they're welcomed into thecommunity.
There's young kids that areinvolved.
I'm not going to say thatpeople lie about their age so
they can get involved in certainprojects on the float, but
maybe that happens.

(01:01:17):
Um, there are folks that arewell into well into retirement
that are, they're looking to bepart of something bigger than
them and it's just.

Speaker 3 (01:01:25):
it's just a cool space where everybody comes
together well, you know, I'dlike to say I'm sorry, craig,
then jump in there.
My son's in-laws are originallyfrom Canada.
They're now from Vancouver.
She is one of those people.
They are literally.
They came out here this week.
They are staying in my son'sbackyard.

(01:01:47):
They're from Canada.
This is warm weather.
They're living in a tent in thebackyard.
They have come out here andshe's working on the float sheet
.
This has been on her bucketlist her whole life and tomorrow
she's going to go to the paradewith me Awesome and see the
whole work.
So cool, it's so true wherepeople come out here and we will

(01:02:08):
take anybody to volunteerAnyone, anyone.

Speaker 1 (01:02:10):
Well, the rest of the world watches this parade in 70
degrees and sunshine and theywish they were here.
But what you had just said Ikeyed in on the part about this
is almost a pilgrimage for some.
Yeah, to come, whether it's anannual thing or a one-time
bucket list thing.
But you went on to say how manydifferent people can be
involved in this, and we'll findsomething for you to do.

(01:02:31):
We'll give you a role.
Anybody can participate.

Speaker 9 (01:02:34):
Yep, the trick is is to be wanting to be involved.
And so when we first startedthis is my I think this is my
seventh year working on floats,sixth float, because we had the
year where the float, the yearthat wasn't.
Basically so we we my, myspouse and I you met Terry
earlier.
We thought we were just doing alittle project and would come
in for a day or two and work onit.
It felt like working on like akindergarten art project Our

(01:02:56):
fingers hurt, we were getting alittle slap, happy, but we were
spending time together, kind ofa thing.
And then it led to gettinginvolved, doing a couple things
throughout the year and nextthing, you know, it's like we're
here year round.

Speaker 3 (01:03:09):
Well, it's addictive, it's addictive.
It's addictive.
It's addictive.
I understand you were on theboard of the nominating
committee Yep, and that goes toshow you how it's totally
involved.
Yeah, where you're now.

Speaker 9 (01:03:23):
Yep, and what we're trying to do with the nominating
committee and hopefully folkshave explained, kind of how the
structure works and everything.
There's a board of directors,there's an executive board,
that's in there.
There's a nominating committee.
There's a board of directors,there's an executive board,
that's in there.
There's a nominating committee.
There's a deco committee,there's a design committee.
There's a bunch of it's all.
It's all, it's all.
What's the word I'm looking for?
It's a democratic process wherewe want people's voices, we

(01:03:45):
want people's participation inthis, and it's by consensus and
it's by we vote on things andeverything.
The nominating committee iskind of cool because what we're
looking to do is we're lookingto try to build leadership, not
only for what we're doing now,but what does the organization
want to look like years from now, for both sustainability and
for inclusion, and it's kind offun to be able to work with

(01:04:06):
folks that are interested inreally serving on the board.
I can't go into the details ofwho's been nominated for this
year because that still has tobe announced and everything.
I was just about to do that.
I'm tired.
I almost messed that up, but Ididn't Darn it.

Speaker 3 (01:04:19):
You almost got the scoop, got the scoop.

Speaker 9 (01:04:21):
You almost got the scoop.
But what we're looking to do iswe're looking to identify folks
that do want to lean in and dowant to get involved and it's
cool to see that energy, hearthat energy and try to be a part
of something.
So, even though I'm notinvolved in the board, being
involved in a subcommitteethat's helping nominate and
identify people for leadershiproles and everything, that's
another way of kind of helpingbuild and contribute to the

(01:04:43):
systems that we're working in.

Speaker 1 (01:04:44):
And it sounds like something you mentioned is every
year is a new opportunity tomaybe steer a little bit.
Take the whole organization,Because when you're talking
about that structure it's justBurbank, Every float has this
structure and all that.
But every year, if you'reinvolved, you have an
opportunity to take it maybe adifferent direction or make some
adjustments for the future.

Speaker 9 (01:05:05):
I've never worked on other float organizations, but
the structures are a little bitdifferent though.
We're one of six self-builtfloats You've heard the story
about that.
It's all community driven.
A lot of the float buildersthey're corporations or they're
being hired by corporations todo the work and everything.
So there's a lot.
I was just talking with somefriends today who they go in and
they basically told you'regoing to go do this, you're

(01:05:25):
going to do this, as opposed tocome on in and let's get you
involved in something that youwant to be involved in.
Let's help you build that senseof community.
There's a collective sense ofownership here, which is kind of
cool when you don't have thatgiant corporate structure.
The community's already here,the community's here, and the
community's not just here inBurbank.
The community is here.
It's Southern California,actually it's the nation in that
sense.
I was just talking with somefolks that work on the husband.

(01:05:47):
He works for Imagineering outof Florida.
This is his third year here andwhat they do is they fly out,
they spend their Christmasvacation, they fly out, they
work on the float together.
They go see the parade and thenthey go to Disneyland and then
they go home, and they did itjust as a bucket list thing
their first year.
This is the third year wherethey're spending time, money,
resources and family timetogether doing this.

(01:06:09):
It's really kind of cool what?

Speaker 1 (01:06:11):
a valuable experience that they've found for
themselves, and a very uniqueone, exactly Very unique.

Speaker 3 (01:06:15):
You know, I see off camera his wife.

Speaker 9 (01:06:18):
I'm supposed to talk about the different types of
rice.

Speaker 1 (01:06:21):
She can join you right next to me.

Speaker 9 (01:06:22):
They're talking about rice, proper technique on how
to put rice on the float.
And what floral glue versus theindustrial Elmer's glue, all
that.

Speaker 3 (01:06:32):
Well, what I'd like to say is you know, it's a
family.
Now you guys do it as a family.
I mean, a couple years ago thiswas totally something different
.

Speaker 1 (01:06:41):
I'm going to give her my hits.
Okay, there you go, we can havea.

Speaker 9 (01:06:47):
Oh, we want you to speak, there you go.

Speaker 1 (01:06:50):
Well, I'll introduce.

Speaker 3 (01:06:51):
Terry and again thank you very, very much for your
participation.
I know he is involved, I knowyou're quite involved.
You were with those judgestoday and I've asked almost
everybody that has beeninterviewed today.
You say the reaction to thosejudges were pretty happy.

Speaker 7 (01:07:09):
Oh yes, From the first judging yesterday they
were coming in.
They're like, wow, this ispretty cool on Sprint.
And then they came in today andthey're like oh, this is
amazing, it's spectacular.
I mean, they just said oh, wow,and they had huge smiles, Eyes
were really wide, so we knew wehad hit a really high mark with

(01:07:29):
that.

Speaker 3 (01:07:30):
Yep, I saw that today and that's the things you look
for.
Tomorrow we'll find out whatthey thought because they have a
lot of floats to check.
But again from my Burbank crew,thank you for your
participation.
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:07:44):
And all the roles you play.

Speaker 7 (01:07:47):
Yeah, it's definitely all volunteer, but it's a
collaborative effort and Iappreciate all my supervisors
who said yes to taking oncharacter, either one or more
than one, all my new supervisorsthis year.
I had some who were veteransand I had some who were
first-time supervisors this yearand they stepped up and I was

(01:08:10):
very proud of them and Iappreciated every minute of
their time and effort,dedication, staying late, making
sure that all the details werethere, asking me time and time
again hey, I don't think thisworks, let's change it.
And together we would go in andwe would change it, we'd pull
new material, we'd create ourown out of what we had and we

(01:08:30):
actually made it work.
And with all of our dinosaurs,to all those volunteers out
there who donated to get thosedinosaurs named, we appreciate
every one of them and we're veryhappy to send them down the
parade route this year with newnames.

Speaker 1 (01:08:44):
Definitely a team effort.
Definitely a team effort.
Now, it's probably anever-ending process every year
of new people coming in,learning the different jobs and
those that have been hereteaching them.
So what a great sharingenvironment of knowledge and
expertise and useful talentshere too.
Yeah pushing a broom.
Pushing a broom identifyingrice yes, but welding, yeah,

(01:09:09):
decorating, creative arts, allthat stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:09:12):
Mechanics?
Well, people don't know.
Besides being a policecommissioner, your 9-to-5 job
with LA County Health?

Speaker 9 (01:09:20):
Yep, LA County Department of Mental Health.

Speaker 3 (01:09:23):
And we bring everybody I mean together,
everybody's here.
Yeah, it's nice to see you.

Speaker 1 (01:09:28):
And you could probably exercise those muscles
sometimes.

Speaker 9 (01:09:32):
I try not to but they come in every once in a while.

Speaker 7 (01:09:36):
It helps me get through.

Speaker 1 (01:09:37):
My big question for you is when are you going to get
to sleep and for how?

Speaker 7 (01:09:40):
long, hopefully.
After a little celebration withour friends from Montana this
evening who have flown in, drovein and came in and they
actually brought theirgrandchildren this afternoon to
see it.
They were ecstatic Wellfantastic.
And we're going to go celebratewith them and then, hopefully,
I will be sleeping for possibly10 hours or more.

Speaker 1 (01:10:00):
You're not going to the parade.

Speaker 9 (01:10:01):
You're going to watch it with everybody else I have
to be over at the stadium at 830.
I'm actually working the gametomorrow.
He does another job, oh, nokidding.

Speaker 7 (01:10:08):
He does another?

Speaker 3 (01:10:09):
job, he does another job.
Let's hear that voice.

Speaker 1 (01:10:12):
Come on, these are two people that can do voiceover
we need to put you to work, weneed to get you busy.
Well, what he does is backup.

Speaker 3 (01:10:19):
Come on, give me that .

Speaker 1 (01:10:21):
We're going to know everything about you by the end
of this.
No, it's crazy.

Speaker 9 (01:10:26):
I think this is my 18th year as the announcer for
the UCLA Marching Band.
I've been doing that for aminute.

Speaker 1 (01:10:32):
We have to talk.
You've got one of my dream jobs.

Speaker 9 (01:10:36):
It's all volunteer, it's not a job, so I'm not
retiring on it or anything.

Speaker 1 (01:10:40):
I say job because it's an easy word to say.

Speaker 9 (01:10:42):
Okay, that works out.

Speaker 1 (01:10:44):
It's a gig.

Speaker 9 (01:10:45):
We'll call it a gig.
But the other thing that was anaccident that happened is I got
the honor.
About six years ago I showed upat the UCLA OU game.
About six years ago I showed upat the UCLA OU game and one of
the roles in the press box issomething called a spotter and
what they do is they call thegame for the in-stadium
announcer.
They wear a headset like this,they pay attention to the stats
booth and then they're literallycalling the game play-by-play
who's got the ball, how manyyards, who got the tackle All

(01:11:08):
that kind of stuff, keepingstats and notes and everything.
Calling it out for thein-statement announcer.
Six years ago I showed up andI'm like where's Doug?
And they're like Doug's nothere, sit down.

Speaker 1 (01:11:16):
Doug's not here, man, yeah, so I basically dropped in
, and so six years later.

Speaker 9 (01:11:19):
I've been volunteering and I'm actually on
staff now.
I'm in my second year on staffI'm sorry, my first year on
staff at UCLA and I'm now doingmy.
I think he needs a protege.

Speaker 3 (01:11:32):
Well.

Speaker 1 (01:11:33):
We'll talk after the show.
We'll talk later.
We'll talk later.

Speaker 3 (01:11:36):
Craig has his own studio in his apartment.
He has done, he does voiceover,he does our intro.
He one day did a Dodgers intro.
Yeah, dream job, I want Toddlicense.

Speaker 9 (01:11:49):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah .
Yeah, it's goofy and you justfall into this stuff sometimes
too, so it's just I'm hoping.

Speaker 1 (01:11:55):
I'm hoping to find a hole to fall into.
Here we go.

Speaker 3 (01:11:57):
Okay, okay, you guys got to talk.
Well, that's it Again.
I know your face is going to beseen not only on Channel 6 or
the TV of Burbank PoliceCommission, but we hope to get
you for a podcast with Craig.

Speaker 9 (01:12:11):
Sounds good.

Speaker 3 (01:12:11):
Talking about Burbank .

Speaker 9 (01:12:13):
Talking about whatever you want to talk about.

Speaker 3 (01:12:14):
Everything.
Happy New Year's.
I've got to say that You'regoing places kids.
I've got to say thank you,thank you, as a lifelong Burbank
resident, thank you.

Speaker 7 (01:12:23):
Thank you very much.
We appreciate your support.

Speaker 1 (01:12:25):
Much appreciated.
All the effort goes into this.

Speaker 9 (01:12:27):
I think did they already get the thing?
I think she's two years shy ofbeing a lifelong resident in
Burbank.
I think you were two when youmoved here, Not?

Speaker 7 (01:12:34):
two in the middle, not two in the middle.
Okay, at the beginning, at thebeginning of two.

Speaker 3 (01:12:38):
I think that counts.
I go back six some odd years.

Speaker 1 (01:12:45):
Well, you see all these dinosaurs everywhere.

Speaker 9 (01:12:46):
You're not about to ask her how long ago.
Okay, I know that's the deal.

Speaker 3 (01:12:51):
Don't go there.
When I was growing up my mother.

Speaker 9 (01:12:53):
He's a big guy, not for me, I know.

Speaker 3 (01:12:56):
When I was growing up I lived down toward Palooka
Park Drive off of Pass when theywere building the 134 freeway
and my mother used to say, goplay on the freeway, and I did.
I used to get on those bigtractors.

Speaker 1 (01:13:10):
Now we say it to them .

Speaker 3 (01:13:12):
I remember before that Vons was there or any of
those apartments Craig, ourproducer, he's lived here all
his life and I remember themfilming movies out there.
I worked at Warner Brothers, atthe ranch and so forth.

Speaker 1 (01:13:25):
But what do you know about rice?

Speaker 7 (01:13:28):
I know you can push a broom, but yeah, we actually do
have a few different types ofrice on that float.

Speaker 1 (01:13:33):
And he did his best.
He held his own.

Speaker 9 (01:13:35):
So come on down, She'll tell you everything you
need to know about rice and Iwill show you how to lift and
store it.

Speaker 7 (01:13:40):
That sounds great Super.

Speaker 9 (01:13:42):
Team effort Going to put us to work.

Speaker 7 (01:13:44):
Not only rice, but the roses.
Did you talk about the roses?
Because it is a rose parade andwe did manage to get over 12
different kinds of roses on ourfloat this year, so I mean we're
excited about that.

Speaker 1 (01:13:56):
We just learned moments ago that these little
containers they're in have beenreused for decades.

Speaker 7 (01:14:01):
Yes, that is correct, there's history in here.
There is.
There are a lot of history insome of those vials and caps.

Speaker 9 (01:14:08):
These are the things you learn when you come down
here Did you talk about thenaming of the float this year.

Speaker 3 (01:14:14):
Wow.

Speaker 7 (01:14:15):
There's a list that went around with our with our
meeting, with our generalmeeting, with all of our members
.
It was open to our members andwe elicited any, any suggestions
for our float.
And one of them was in thereand, being a school teacher, I
looked at it and I'm like, okay,let's do a pun on something.
I looked at one of the names.
I'm like, well, that's kind ofokay, so I tweaked it just a
little bit.
They all voted and the one thatgot chosen having a lot of fun,

(01:14:38):
was the one that I tweaked.

Speaker 9 (01:14:41):
Mine didn't get picked.

Speaker 7 (01:14:42):
I'm so sorry it didn't.
Maybe next year.

Speaker 3 (01:14:46):
That's a good part.
You can say well, we are allsix hours away from next year,
to be exact when we wererecording this.
So next year it could happen.
It could happen, and as we'vetalked to Erica, we've talked to
other people, you know, younever know.
You might find it happening Akid can dream.

Speaker 9 (01:15:02):
Yes, yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:15:03):
Actually, that is correct, yep, so we're looking
forward to our next design for2026 get through this one and we
appreciate everything you do.

Speaker 9 (01:15:11):
Excellent.
Thank you all.
Thank you for having us today.

Speaker 3 (01:15:14):
Thank you, happy New Year.
Happy New Year, get some sleep,get a little bit of sleep.

Speaker 1 (01:15:17):
Don't sleep through the parade.
You can catch the rerun if youwant.

Speaker 7 (01:15:20):
Exactly that's what we think we want.
6 am judging and we want tofigure out what we've got
because we're hoping for a bigone.

Speaker 1 (01:15:32):
And then we want to stay up as long as the.
You know for the first whathalf a dozen or so yeah, we're
the seventh float.

Speaker 7 (01:15:38):
We're the seventh float, they are the 13th entry,
yeah then you can go to bed.
Exactly Sounds good.
Enjoy and best of luck fortomorrow.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (01:15:47):
Thank you, thanks everybody.
That's about it for our podcaston location at the Burbank
Truman Roses Barn.
We had some great guests.
We got to see the float alittle bit in action.
So, ross, I want to thank youfor the great podcast today.
You did a great job.
Why don't you give us yourreflections on this?

Speaker 3 (01:16:07):
You know, Craig, I'm so happy that we got to do this
podcast.
We got to talk to the designerof the Burbank float, Eric
Anderson.
We talked to the president,Linda Kazakos.
We talked to the floatconstruction.
We even talked to the peoplethat feed all these people.

Speaker 1 (01:16:25):
And the guy that pushes the broom.

Speaker 3 (01:16:28):
The guy that pushes the broom.
The float is on its way toPasadena.
It's on a convoy, as you hadheard in the podcast.
It's rolling out here.
We're in an empty barn.
That's getting real cold.
Craig, I can say Happy NewYear's.

Speaker 1 (01:16:44):
I was about to time this airs.
A Happy New Year everybody.
I hope you enjoyed the paradeand we hope that the Burbank
float won some major awardsWell-deserving.
And I dare say that thewarehouse is empty now that the
float has left, but there'sstill probably two dozen people
here doing work.
It never ends, it never seemsto end.
But you know, I think back onthe days where I worked for a

(01:17:05):
police department in the SanGabriel Valley and in the middle
of the night all of the floatscoming from the east came down
right through the middle.
That whole convoy came throughthe middle of town in the middle
of the night.
What a great thing to watch.
And we'd go down on the freewayand see all the horses set up
and stuff like that.
It was just a great experience.
I've never been able to attendthe parade, always watched it on

(01:17:28):
television, which is reallykind of, you know, minus the
energy of being there in person.
It's a great way to watch it.

Speaker 3 (01:17:35):
Well, this was a good way to smell the flowers.

Speaker 1 (01:17:38):
This was great.
And I have covered the paradefor many, many years and it's
important to know for the peoplein the area that they can come
see this float.
Talk to the people that wereinvolved in building it and it's
different presentation areas,right.
After the parade and then herein Burbank they can see it, and
it's different presentationareas right After the parade and
then here in Burbank they cansee it when it comes back from
Pasadena from Float Fest in acouple of days.

Speaker 3 (01:17:59):
I think I read that they're extending Float Fest an
extra day.
It's going to come back to theparking lot at Olive and Glen
Oaks.
The convoy will bring it backand then it'll be on display for
four or five days.
Usually through the weekendPeople can buy some flowers from
the float, take pictures infront of it.

Speaker 2 (01:18:19):
And I'm really grateful.
And they'll turn theiranimation on too every couple
hours to show people, yep.

Speaker 1 (01:18:23):
And hopefully everybody is able to see this
episode, this podcast, beforeit's all over.
So hopefully we're not talkingabout something that's happened
in the past for you, but thepodcast will live forever.

Speaker 3 (01:18:35):
but this float won't.
Well, you know, I'm realgrateful they presented us, gave
us some roses that were leftover, that are backups, and the
cool part is look at this theybrought us dinosaur cookies.

Speaker 1 (01:18:51):
I got a hot chocolate .
Now it's 60 degrees, not likethe rest of the country, but
it's cold for SouthernCalifornia, so I'm enjoying my
hot chocolate.

Speaker 3 (01:18:59):
Well, again, wrapping up this podcast, I wish both of
you a very happy 2025.
I always like to throw in therewe have tons of other podcasts.
Right now, the Burger Dude hasa show going.
If you want to talk about thebest burgers in Burbank, listen

(01:19:21):
to that podcast, and if you,there's that one, and we have a
whole slew of shows.

Speaker 1 (01:19:26):
Always working on new stuff.
Well, thanks for letting mestop in on the show today.
It's always a good time, goodto have you back.

Speaker 3 (01:19:32):
Good to have you back , good to have you back.
Thank you, happy New Year Thankyou.

Speaker 1 (01:19:34):
Happy New Year to everybody.

Speaker 3 (01:19:35):
God, we're all healthy and let's go into 2025.
You're going to see my Burbankblossom, like you will.

Speaker 1 (01:19:41):
It's going to be a good year everybody.

Speaker 3 (01:19:43):
It is.

Speaker 1 (01:19:43):
Happy.
New Year everybody.
Happy New Year.
Happy New Year.

Speaker 3 (01:19:46):
Bob Eubanks I, I'm going to go ahead and do that.

Speaker 6 (01:20:47):
Thank you.

(01:21:23):
Thank you for watching thelatest MyBurbank video.
If you have it in your heart,please consider helping us by
clicking on the super thanksdown below.
Or, even better, go to ourchannel and consider a

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