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MAKING A SPLASH is the City of
Mission Viejo's float entry in the 2009 Tournament of Roses Parade.
MAKING A SPLASH depicts life in
Mission Viejo and reflects the official parade theme "Hats Off to
Entertainment" by highlighting community and recreation activities as
entertainment in Mission Viejo.
MAKING A SPLASH
showcases iconic Lake Mission Viejo by creating a 12-foot deep, 20-foot
long, 10-foot wide "mini" lake that will travel down the parade route.
Members of the Mission Viejo Nadadores Swim Team will be featured on the
float and will dive into this drivable, mini Lake Mission Viejo.
MAKING A SPLASH reflects the City's
orientation toward family and community and recreation lifestyle that
put Mission Viejo on the map 40 years ago and continues to be a source
of entertainment for its citizen.
Building the float is the
culmination of the City’s 20th anniversary of cityhood,
which provided the ideal time to reinstate a community
tradition. Mission Viejo has a proud Rose Parade
heritage, with nine floats entered between 1977 and 1985
that garnered seven awards. Participation in the Rose
Parade is an inter-generational, community collaboration
meant to unify residents, homeowner associations,
non-profit organizations, schools, sport groups, service
clubs, faith organizations, businesses and others. The
City’s float complements its goal to maximize community
participation, encourage volunteerism and personally
engage every single member of the community.
Fiesta
Parade Floats will build the float chassis and frame at
their facility in Irwindale.
Renowned designer Paul Rodriguez and floral director Jim Hynd
have developed the float design, but bringing the
vision alive will require hundreds of Mission Viejo
volunteers, thousands of donated man-hours and support
from the entire community. It takes more than 10,000
volunteer hours to assemble the intricate floral
displays for each float, with the most delicate flowers
placed in individual vials of water, then set in the
float one at a time. The decorating process
kicks off in October with 2 days of dry-flower
preparation in Mission Viejo followed by 2 more days
November. The decorating
process in Irwindale begins in November with dry
material with final floral decoration occurring the week
between Christmas and New Year's Day.
Along with
decorating the float, there are several ways for the
community to get involved. Civic organizations,
schools and business partners can engage through
merchandise sales and special events, which will
generate enthusiasm and proceeds to support local
causes. The City can assist local schools and
organizations with fun and educational trips that
introduce City heritage through the float design and
construction process. Folks can also purchase a pin,
program, hat or T-shirt and sport them throughout the
holiday season.
Building community has
been the cornerstone of Mission Viejo’s history for
years. Over the past two decades, as the community has
grown, its unique “hometown” feel still survives thanks
to continuing traditions like the Rose Parade. The
Mission Viejo Activities Committee was formed in 1967 to
create and organize special events throughout the year
that instill hometown spirit and community pride. The
City has continued to embrace that goal of bringing the
community together by hosting a number of special events
including summer concerts, cultural festivals, holiday
festivals and more. The Rose Parade float is meant to
add another notch on the City’s community-building belt. |
