By Eliza PARTIKA

As Jan. 1 approaches, the La Cañada Flintridge Tournament of Roses Association (LCFTRA) and over 700 local volunteers are preparing this year’s float, titled Rover Rendezvous, for the decorations that will create what is hoped is an award-winning entry. This year’s entry is a space-age sequel to the 2017 float Backyard Rocketeer in which the main character Morgan dreams of going to space and finding life on Mars.

Among this year’s team of volunteers are artists, set designers, electricians, welders, hydraulics experts and computer experts working around the clock to make the float shine.

Pat Wiedenbeck, who has been with the Association for 19 years, said that the Rover Rendezvous had its own unique sets of challenges as the LCFTRA pushed the boundaries of the possible when constructing its slice of Mars.

This is the first year the float will be partially electric – on one side will be four electric batteries that control the animatronics and on the other the traditional V8 engine powering the float’s forward motion. The float will also feature a custom non-chemical smoke machine.

This year’s float will also feature a flying drone constructed by local engineers from AeroVironment, the team that worked with NASA/JPL to design and develop a helicopter, Ingenuity, carried by the Mars rover Perseverance, and a model animatronic rover made to resemble the current Mars rover. The operator of the drone will be sitting inside the float, operating the drone from the interior.

One of the aerospace engineers who helped design the propellers on the drone said he is proud to see his skills come to life in a community project of this scale.

“It was a very cool match,” he said. “The team was very excited about helping out. [It’s a] very good fit and a very cool way to bring the legacy of what they did on Mars [to a] more general audience through the Rose Bowl.

“[These are] always monster projects. If you keep doing new things, you keep not repeating yourself, you have to apply your skills in new ways,” Wiedenbeck said of the float.

LCFTRA President Ernest Koeppen said this year’s float is the closest to creating a hybrid electric. He said next year he hopes to go fully electric.

“[The float is] this wonderful combination of art and technology. It’s an awesome juxtaposition of old school manual power and hydraulics,” said Koeppen.

A smattering of the local volunteers who work on the float with LCFTRA President Ernest Koeppen (middle in green shirt).

LCFTRA goes through several months of planning before coming to the final design for the float.

This year’s float is special said artistic designer Grant X because of the levels of volunteer involvement in the original idea to recreate a Best Day Ever on Mars.

“We did a float a while back that was all about a kid whose dreams and aspirations are flying into space,” he said.

For this year’s float, when astronauts get to Mars they realize that a group of aliens has also arrived … and they’ve found water. Then the astronauts rendezvous with the aliens; they make friends. They find the rover. They’re like, “Hey, let’s take the rover out for a joyride.”

“Taking the rover out for a joyride. I mean, what can be better than that, right?” he said. “And making friends with other life forms in the universe.”

Twelve volunteers from local high schools and middle schools assisted the LCFTRA with construction. Dustin Cleveland, an eighth grader and member of the La Cañada High School robotics team, said his favorite project to work on was the satellite float, a rolling UFO that will feature animatronic flowers that look as if they change colors as they rotate around the “lights” of the saucer.

“I like it, and it’s a [skill] I get to use in the future,” said Clarence, who is interested in becoming an electrical engineer. He also helped first-time volunteer Francisco with the electrical wiring of the float. Francisco said he and his daughter have found the experience working on the float to be incredibly rewarding.

“It’s refreshing and inspiring for her to reach her potential and foster her creativity,” he said.

Koeppen said although the challenge has increased to retain young volunteers every year, he finds that giving them small projects to test their interest in different skills, like welding, carpentry, or electricity, keeps them coming back to learn more and to teach their peers.

“It’s like a moth to a flame. Even the new kids I am teaching how to weld – it’s an experience. I bring out little pieces of a robotic arm and we learn how to do that on the table. They see one step, then the next. If they can build [a little thing], then [the bigger project] makes more sense later,” he said.

Donors and supporters gathered for a mixer in late November to help raise funds for the float and for local teens’ graduation. Tim Grochow, donor for over 20 years, told the CV Weekly his family has donated to the Association since its inception, and he looks forward to seeing each year’s innovations.

“We look forward to donating each year,” he said.

Koppen looks forward to raising the bar with every float.

“The float, to me, is a giant experiment, an art project where you can try new stuff out. You get to think about the cool stuff you don’t normally get to do, and breathe new life into it,” he said.