NEW YEAR'S IN PASADENA

NEW YEAR’S IN PASADENA - Horses, Floats and Football - Oh My!

December 30-January 1

Our visit to Pasadena started Sunday evening, December 30th with a kick-off dinner at the Pasadena Elks Lodge #672.  This beautiful old lodge is situated at the corner of Colorado Boulevard and Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena.  (For those of you who might have watched the Rose Parade, that is the prime corner where all of the bands and floats make the right turn and is a major viewing point for the network television stations.)  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Tom Lang, Exalted Ruler of Pasadena Lodge, PGER Jim and Lucia Grillo and our Administrative Aide Les and Nancy Yeffa.  The lodge was handsomely decorated for Christmas and reminded us of an old colonial mansion.  It was truly beautiful.

Monday morning we headed out to visit one of the float building sites.  We were met by Steve, one of the members of the Tournament of Roses Committee who gave us a personal tour of the floats in his facility.  We were amazed to learn that every surface of every float must be covered with some natural flower, vegetable or plant.  Steve told us that they draw materials from around the world to complete the floats, and the process starts well over a year in advance.  We thoroughly enjoyed this inside look at the floats up close and personal.

After the float tour, we were taken to Santa Anita Race Track for lunch and the horse races.  We were pleased to discover that the third race was dedicated to the Pasadena Elks Lodge and we were escorted trackside to watch the running.  At the end of the race, we were privileged to stand with the winning horse and have our photos taken with the owners.  After finishing our lunch and several more races, we adjourned to the hotel to prepare for the evening celebration.

New Year’s Eve at the Pasadena Elks Lodge was a lovely affair.  It started with drinks and appetizers and was followed by a filet mignon/lobster tail dinner that was delicious.  Many of the guests that evening were skilled ballroom dancers and we enjoyed watching them as they showed off their dance steps.  At 11:00 o’clock, all of the guests joined hands and shared the Eleven O’clock Toast.  Knowing that we would be getting up very early the next morning to come back to the Lodge for the parade, we opted not to wait for the midnight salute and headed for our hotel.  And when the alarm went off at 4:00 am, we were very glad we had!

Aron and Cheryl picked us up at 5:15 and we made our way past crowds of overnight campers to the Lodge parking lot.  After a wonderful breakfast and eye-opening coffee, we found our seats – front row center in the bleachers outside the Pasadena Lodge on Colorado Boulevard.  We could not have had a better vantage point to view the parade!  As the floats, marching bands and horses passed, we marveled at the beauty and pageantry of the Rose Parade.  It was a very special morning.

After an early lunch, we loaded up in the vans and drove over to the Rose Bowl to cheer for our home team, the Stanford Cardinal as they went up against the Wisconsin Badgers.  Since both teams have red as their school color, the crowd was a sea of red everywhere you looked.  While Stanford won the football game, we decided that Wisconsin won the battle of the bands.  It was a memorable event and one we were thrilled to attend.

Our final evening in Pasadena was a quiet dinner at the famous Derby restaurant.  Closely affiliated with the Santa Anita Racetrack, the walls of the restaurant were lined with photos of horses, owners, and jockeys.  We enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the chance to spend time with our hosts and escorts recapping our wonderful experience and all of their gracious hospitality.   This will truly be one of the most memorable New Year’s celebrations we will ever have . . . and what a start to 2013!