For 100 years or so, the Tournament of Roses Parade was about marching bands, grand marshals and beauty queens waving from flowery floats gliding down Colorado Boulevard.
But then came the 1990s, with some modern clashes of tradition and contemporary values.
After run-ins with American Indians, a women`s group and indignant sheriff`s deputies, Tournament of Roses President Bob Cheney has his fingers crossed that Wednesday`s 103rd parade has cleared its last political hurdle.
Pasadena`s annual extravaganza will start at 10:10 a.m. New Year`s Day at Orange Grove Boulevard and follow a 5 1/2-mile route before an estimated 1 million onlookers. Millions more are expected to watch on television.
The two-hour parade will be followed at 3:45 p.m. by the Rose Bowl football game, which pits the University of Michigan against the University of Washington.
This year`s parade, ”Voyages of Discovery 1992,” will have 60 floats, 22 marching bands and 29 equestrian units.
The parade commemorates the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus`
arrival on the continent. The naming of Cristobal Colon, a direct descendant of Columbus, as grand marshal drew criticism from American Indians, who pointed to the destruction of native lives and cultures during European colonization of the Americas.
Rose Parade officials responded to the criticism by naming U.S. Rep. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (D-Colo.), an American Indian, as co-grand marshal.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff`s Department was offended when Pasadena City Council members warned against allowing deputies with racist views to work among the 800 or so deputies providing security at the parade.
Pasadena Mayor Jess Hughston apologized after Sheriff Sherman Block-who denies that his deputies are racists-threatened to stop assisting the Pasadena Police Department on parade day.
Pasadena council members said their concerns were prompted by a federal judge`s statement that neo-Nazis worked at the department`s Lynwood station. Block has disputed the judge`s statement.
The Los Angeles County Commission for Women, a citizens panel appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, objected to an all-male committee choosing the Rose Queen and her court.
After an exchange of letters, the commission made plans to discuss concerns with the Tournament Association in January.
