A long-standing tradition for the Battle Ground community will be coming to a close — unless more people volunteer and building space becomes available.
The members of the Battle Ground Rose Float Board are ending their annual run due to lack of new leadership and new facilities. This means Battle Ground will no longer feature floats in the Portland Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade each June, a press release by the board stated. The board has overseen the float building since 2006 and has sought a suitable construction and decorating site along with dedicated leaders for the giant undertaking, the release added.
Project co-Chairman Bill Tucker said the board members had to think realistically about the future and their ages. The process to create an annual float in June begins the prior September, his wife and former co-chairman, Louise Tucker, said. Finding materials, funding, storage, physical labor and other struggles began to take a toll on the aging group.
“We are saddened to be unable to find a suitable long-term site in which to construct and decorate floats,” said Barbara Evans in the release, a volunteer who has worked on more floats than anyone else, starting in 1993. “There will no longer be an opportunity for community volunteers to build and decorate these beautiful spectacles.”
Community members who didn’t make the trip to downtown Portland also had the opportunity to watch the parades on TV and see the floats in-person at the Harvest Days parades in mid-July.
Louise Tucker said the board has received inquiries about volunteering here and there, but the rose float needs committed help to take over the process.
“To revive the float, a cadre of energetic, dedicated volunteers is required. Leadership is essential and should include a construction team director, someone to oversee the sequencing of decoration and, most importantly, an overall project superintendent, willing to dedicate his or her time on an as-needed basis,” Louise Tucker said in the statement.
In addition, not only will the float’s run come to an end, so will the princess court, as well.
“In addition to stopping the building of floats, the court selection process will no longer be in effect. That experience was likened to ‘finishing school’ for the young ladies who rode the floats,” Evans said in the release.
The program provided public-speaking opportunities and camaraderie for the Battle Ground area youth.
“These amazing young ladies road on the floats and proudly represented their schools and the greater Battle Ground area,” Marla Polos, a board member and long-time volunteer, said. “They learned valuable lifelong lessons of citizenship and comportment through their reign as Battle Ground rose princesses.”
The first ever entry in the rose parade in 1955, “One Hoss Shay,” earned an honorable mention award. Since then, the rose floats have brought pride and joy to the community of Battle Ground during the Portland Grand Floral Parade and Harvest Days Parade.
“Beginning with the first float in 1955 to the last, thousands of volunteers chose to be a part of this community-spirited project and felt immense pride in creating a consistent award-winning hometown float showcased in one of the largest telecasted parades in the Northwest,” Polos said.
Prizes were awarded in several categories throughout the years, but the highlights were in 2003 when the Kids’ Sweepstakes Award was given for the depiction of a baby elephant taking a bubble bath. In 2006, the entry featured a rotating baby grand piano decked in red roses and sported a few keys that actually raised up and down. That year, the float won the Grand Sweepstakes Award, the grandest of them all; its image has even been painted on Andersen Dairy’s mural wall in Old Town Battle Ground.
The retiring board members still entertain hope that in the near future, the tradition of float-building will resume in Battle Ground. The group said they would be glad to volunteer their time and efforts to help new leadership.
The float’s chassis is currently up for sale, sparking hope for a new era. The approximately 8-foot-by-18-foot vehicle was carefully constructed to go slowly without overheating. It is a blend of parts from Chevrolet, Dodge Ford and an International truck, the release stated. The motorized float is in working order.
The chassis will be awarded to the person who offers the most favorable terms to the Rose Float Corporation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For questions or bid offers, contact Mark VanVleet, mcvanvleet@icloud.com, or call 925-640-0320.
