F E AT U R E
The Bloom IS BACK ROSE PARADE INSPIRES OTHERS TO ‘DREAM. BELIEVE. ACHIEVE.’
Dr. Robert B. Miller, president and chairman of the board for the 2022 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association
he Tournament of Roses is America’s New Year’s Day celebration, drawing hundreds of thousands of people from around the world each year. After being canceled last year due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the world-renowned parade and football game return to Pasadena. “Every January 1, our community, our country, and the world gets to celebrate new beginnings, and this year we’re going to be celebrating healthy new beginnings,” says Dr. Robert B. Miller, president and chairman of the board for the 2022 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, “It is a signature piece of our culture and our community. This is an American tradition, and we feel strongly about our responsibility to bring that to the world every year.” This will be the 133rd Rose Parade and the 108th Rose Bowl Game. Parade spectators can expect elaborate floral floats, every inch of which must be covered with flowers or any other natural materials, as well as equestrians displays and a variety of musical performances. In January 2020, the Rose Bowl Game saw a crowd of over 92,000 in the stadium alone while the parade was viewed by more than 40 million people domestically and another 15 to 25 million internationally. In January 2021, the parade was silenced. “Public health and safety as well as making wise financial decisions, not only for the association but for all those who we work with, were the two paramount focuses that we had,” Miller explains. “As we worked through that process, David Eads, our CEO, and I discussed the need to bring in well-known and well-experienced public health and safety experts to help us with these decisions.” The decision to cancel the 2021 parade was informed by data points and guidance from a survey of over 100 LA County public health professionals as well as a Keck School of Medicine study that was commissioned by Miller and Eads. It was the first time that the event had been canceled since the outbreak of World War II in 1942. This year the association once again engaged the support of the Keck School and a host of public health professionals. The survey’s result determined that the event could go ahead given that it adheres to the local and state coronavirus guidelines. “Primarily thanks to the vaccines and the great work of all the healthcare workers that got us through this, there was a sense that we would be out of the dark and into the light in a much more significant way in the spring of ’21, summer of ’21, and fall of ’21 leading into our parade,” Miller explains. “All of our normal parade preparations have been altered in a very significant way to make certain that we do everything we can to adhere to the LA County and the city of Pasadena public health requirements, as well as recommendations to maintain as healthy a public space as possible for all of our events during that week. I’m proud to say that, through the incredible efforts of our staff, our volunteer leadership, and our volunteers, we are well on way of doing all of that.” Miller had been a volunteer at the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association for 38 years before accepting his leadership position this continued on page 12
Photo courtesy of Pasadena Tournament of Roses
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BY LUKE NETZLEY
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