2nd Judging
The second day of judging was New Year's Eve. An amazing amount of progress had been made in the prior 24 hours! Once again the weather cooperated and the rain stopped long enough to allow the judging to take place outside. Here are some views showing the float pretty close to how it would look in the parade, with some final work still to be done.
There's still time to get a few more bits and pieces on Sister Bear before the judges arrive!!
More last-minute work underway at the front of the float. The live flowers have started going on and the float is become quite colorful.
We sure were glad to have nice weather for the judging. It had rained really hard overnight and we were worried that we might have to take the float out in the rain for judging, then repair any water damage afterwards. Happily Mother Nature must like bears.
The two openings on the side of the float provide air to the crew inside and to the engines. It can get quite hot inside as the foam used to provide shaping also acts as a thermal insulator, trapping all of the engine heat inside. The Tournament of Roses Association requires temperature probes and recordings to make sure the crew doesn't get overheated.
I think the man who carved the faces did a wonderful job, especially on the younger bears.
During the judging the float animation, music, and special effects are all turned on. Papa Bear is seen here swinging away at the bee, while Mama moved towards him with the hose to try to save the barbecue from going up in smoke.
Another view of our two adult bears hard at work.
Carol and I took a moment to pose with our creation. Sadly Stacia was out of town and would not see the final product close-up.
After the final touches were applied the float was towed to Pasadena for the parade. The weather forecast was pretty dire and we were worried that it literally would rain on our parade.