126th Rose Parade lifts spirits

PASADENA, Calif. – Despite chilly temperatures, thousands of people lined the streets of Pasadena on Thursday for the 126th Rose Parade, huddling under blankets and sipping hot chocolate as they watched flower-covered floats roll past.

As the last marching band passed, capping the two-hour parade, people began packing up their blankets and chairs. Some snapped a few last photos before heading to their cars. Others hugged friends goodbye.

Hector Morales turned to his 5-year-old daughter, Rotce, and shrugged. “Se acabo,” he said, telling her it was over. Rotce made a sad face. She’d loved the bands, she said.

Temperatures were expected to top out Thursday at 58 degrees, forecasters said. The National Weather Service said the temperature in Pasadena dipped to 36 degrees, threatening the 1952 record low of 32 degrees.

This year’s parade theme was “Inspiring Stories,” designed to showcase those who “elevate the human spirit by who they are, what they have done and what they continue to do,” according to the parade’s website.

Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner, USC graduate and World War II prisoner of war, was named this year’s grand marshal. The Torrance native’s life is told in the book “Unbroken,” which premiered as a movie by the same name in December.

Zamperini died in July at 97, two months after he was named grand marshal. USC’s equine mascot walked the parade route without a rider in honor of Zamperini, and Zamperini’s family rode in the grand marshal’s car in the parade.

The traditional Southern California parade takes place before the annual Rose Bowl football game.

Spectator Sue Zavala, 65, draped in a brown scarf, sat atop a 6-foot ladder with her boyfriend, Jim Vigue, 72. He stood on a small step stool at her side.

“I can see everything up here,” Zavala said. “I got the best seat in the house.”

As the first float bearing the Rose Parade logo slowly began the 5-mile trek down Colorado Boulevard, children gasped as their parents looked on.

“There they are!” exclaimed a 3-year-old boy named Jack, who watched the parade from his father’s arms. Jack, dressed in a bright windbreaker and fleece hat, scanned the street, his blue eyes slightly teary.

“He’s cold, but he’s excited,” said his father, Mark Lavine, 48.