By Eliza PARTIKA

The La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association (LCFTRA) held a ribbon cutting on May 6 to unveil its all-electric float that will be its entry in the 2027 Rose Parade, a first for the Tournament of Roses (TOR).

Ernest Koeppen, who first dreamed of the all-electric float two years ago, said he was excited to see the payoff of hard work and lots of planning. 

“It’s amazing to be done. Every day was a Rubik’s Cube, like solving for X,” Koeppen said.

“We’re constantly looking back at our history and looking forward to the future,” said Pasadena Tournament of Roses President Terry Madigan. “It is amazing to see a self-built float jumping so far into the future. We could not be more excited to see that that really big next step happen.”

LCFTRA’s 2027 float will champion the important “first” for the TOR and the LCFTRA team. The float, titled “Everyone is E-Vited” invites float participants and audiences to enjoy the float’s green update. It will feature electric-powered animals – a sloth, a lemur, a raccoon – who will show off lightning dance moves, becoming more animated the more the crowd “gets loud” for the float. 

Pam Wiedenbeck, LCFTRA president, said she crosses her fingers each year as the LCFTRA team jumps milestone after milestone. 

“The question is always ‘Will it work?’ But it went really well last year [with a hybrid engine]. So now, we take the big step,” she said. 

The electric engine sits in the bones of the old chassis the team uses each year. Two main engines run electricity from the battery to the back wheels for steering. The float driver will sit atop the engine and guide the float’s direction using the front wheels. There are charging mechanisms built into the float and accessible to the float driver should they encounter the need to charge on the day of the parade, and there are mechanisms to allow the float to roll without the battery, in the event the float needs to be towed, Koeppen said. 

Parts began arriving in February and the team has been hard at work gutting the old gas motors to replace them with the new electric hardware. The two electric engines powering the float arrived on the day of the event. 

In a speech to the crowd of volunteers, stakeholders and city and Tournament officials, Koeppen acknowledged all the volunteers who come together to make the float possible each year. 

“This year is an exploration in ingenuity and creativity. We are exemplifying this year’s perfect parade theme of welcome. Our artists, our engineers, our dreamers, our welders, our designers, electricians, craftsmen and programmers are just some of the villagers [who] make up this project because it does take a village to build this,” Koeppen said. “It is a community effort and it is unique for our community.”

Both the California State Senate and State Assembly recognized the LCFTRA team with awards for this accomplishment. Representative Judy M. Chu spoke at the event, congratulating the team for its accomplishment. 

“When I heard about this huge step that you are taking with this particular float, I just had to come and see. I had to come and celebrate,” she said. “Of course, the Rose Parade is where millions of eyes go on New Year’s Day, and La Cañada Flintridge plays such a huge, important role in making this event possible.”

“It’s all about that spirit of belonging. I started my journey with the Rose Parade, working with the South Pasadena Rose Float Association, built the float for a number of years and drove it for a couple of years,” said Madigan. “So I understand the work it takes to get a float like this done. And the self-built floats really are the heart and soul of who we are. They’re some of the longest units we’ve had in the parade in terms of the years they’ve been involved. So we’re just thrilled.”