back to top
Tuesday, December 30, 2003 - "Overture" Reception, Castle Green, Pasadena
Partners, float riders and special guests enjoy an evening of fellowship hosted by OneLegacy and American Liver Foundation Greater Los Angeles Chapter.
The Castle Green's beautiful salon sets the tone for the evening. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Float rider Pat Perry, Kate Pianetto, Mike Kalthoff of LDT Systems and Kim McCullough of Gift of Hope. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Float rider Carissa Carmichael is accompanied by her father Bob, mother Susan and sister Ryan. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Float rider Brent Axthelm meets Rose Princesses Erinne, Stephanie and Katherine. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Float riders Patricia Elizarraraz and Sharon Maupin are flanked by Princess Laura and Princess Natalie. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
TRIO's Jackie Colleran with Princess Christina. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Float rider Barbara Lawrence and her husband Ed pose with Rose Queen Megan Chinen. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Princess Laura and Princess Natalie meet Traci Howard and Lori Shinstine of RTI Donor Services. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
The Coalition welcomed a visit from Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Float riders Sara Castro and Brittney Andrews look beautiful in their evening dresses. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Float rider Kari Barlament shares a quiet moment with four-month-old daughter Erica. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Queen Megan enjoys meeting one of the our princesses, Danielle DelTorto, daughter of Gina Matarazzo of Sallop Insurance Agency. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Float rider Phat Mach is joined by father Hung, sister Linh, Princess Natalie, Princess Laura, OneLegacy's Vanessa Hong Van Nguyen, mother Lieu and Princess Katherine. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
St. Joseph Renal Transplant Center's Judy Burton (second from left) and Brian McCarthy (far right) are joined by Princesses Laura, Natalie and Christina. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Dr. Kenneth P. Moritsugu welcomes Chris Klug and Missy April, who arrived straight from Los Angeles International Airport. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
The program gets underway in the Castle Green's ballroom. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Gary and Lois Foxen see their dream unfolding. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Assistant Sheriff Doyle Campbell of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, a UCLA liver recipient in 1986, emceed the program. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
The Royal Court delighted everyone present with an a cappella rendition of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Featured speakers included OneLegacy CEO Tom Mone... (Photo by Scott Weersing)
...Dr. Kenneth P. Moritsugu, The Deputy Surgeon General of the United States and a donor father and husband... (Photo by Scott Weersing)
...Dr. John A. Donovan on behalf of the American Liver Foundation... (Photo by Scott Weersing)
...Olympic bronze medalist snowboarder and liver recipient Chris Klug... (Photo by Scott Weersing)
...donor mom Catalina Perez, addressing the audience in Spanish... (Photo by Scott Weersing)
...and Mike Jones, who recived a kidney from Patricia Abdullah. (Photo by Scott Weersing)
Presenting the 22 riders of the inaugural Coalition on Donation Rose Parade Float! (Photo by Scott Weersing)
back to top
Tuesday, December 30, 2003 - Phoenix Decorating Co. Rose Palace, Pasadena
Float riders join in the decorating fun on media day.
Float rider Brent Axthelm (r) pairs up with his brother Seth.
Float rider Darlene Aymerich and Delia Joslyn of UNYTS have the honor of decorating the Donate Life logo.
Float rider Barbara Lawrence prepares yellow roses for placement.
Float rider Carissa Carmichael (r) with her sister Ryan.
Don McComb and Kim McCullough of Gift of Hope bring the swans to life.
Float rider Mike Jones (r), girlfriend Tranishia Gholston and Mike's son Donnell focus on braiding.
Design & decoration subcommittee chairwoman Karen Taylor preps with her right hand, daughter Krystal.
Kathy Gibson keeps warm in the warehouse.
Float riders Mike Jones and Patricia Abdullah are speak to the ABC7 reporter Leslie Sykes.
Float rider Patricia Elizarraraz in between tasks.
The Today Show's Al Roker listens as Phoenix Decorating media liaison Larry Palmer describes the Coalition on Donation float.
LA's CBS affiliate shot footage of float rider Ryan Zinn for WBNS-10, the CBS affiliate in Columbus, Ohio.
Float riders Brittney Andrews and Sara Castro decorate the Donate Life logo.
Sara and Brittney are interviewed by ABC7 Los Angeles.
Florist Sean Quinn and Krystal Taylor prepare arrangements along the railing.
Float rider Sharon Maupin and granddaughter Jordan Eboreime focus on the bridge flooring.
Bursts of color bring the float to life by the end of the first shift. Decorating would continue until 3:30am the next morning!
back to top
Monday, December 29, 2003 - Phoenix Decorating Co. Rose Palace, Pasadena
The day belongs to UCLA Healthcare as floral decorating moves into high gear.
Scores of volunteers from UCLA Healthcare register courtside....
...as the float stands ready. It will look quite different by tomorrow morning!
Amy Waddell and Roxanne Moster of UCLA Healthcare Media Relations smell the roses.
Roxanne Moster poses with Joey, a volunteer canine with UCLA's People-Animal Connection.
back to top
Sunday, December 28, 2003 - Phoenix Decorating Co. Rose Palace, Pasadena
As out-of-state guests start to arrive, at long last flowers adorn the float!
Donor mom and OneLegacy Ambassador Vicki Carey adds trim to the pods, which will soon carry roses.
Trimmers carefully adorn the pods.
Delia Joslyn of official partner and float rider sponsor Upstate New York Transplant Services (UNYTS) wields the scissors.
Float rider Darlene Aymerich applies long leaves to small platforms that will carry floral arrangements.
An overhead view of Darlene's table show us the various stages of the process.
Glue is carefully applied to the length of the leaves.
Acting assistant crew chief and float organizing committee member Karen Taylor stands with our float florist, Sean, as he shows an orchid stem from the first batch of flowers.
The very first stem is cut!
Volunteers from Loma Linda University Medical Center work the flower table.
The float is ready for flowers!
High up on the scaffolding, Mike Kalthoff of official partner LDT Systems smells the roses! At right is Mike's fiancée, Kate Pianetto.
Yellow roses are a welcome sight after eight shifts of exclusively dry materials.
back to top
Saturday, December 27, 2003 - Phoenix Decorating Co. Rose Palace, Pasadena
Today we made headway on the underside of the pods, which are covered with lemon leaves.
Float rider Carissa Carmichael cuts lemon leaves...
...in preparation for gluing...
...and pasting.
Float riders, heart recipients and best friends Brittney Andrews and Sara Castro test their positions on the float. Brittney, wearing her World Transplant Games Team USA jacket, proudly wears a button of her donor, who gave Brittney new life at three months of age.
back to top
Friday, December 26, 2003 - Phoenix Decorating Co. Rose Palace, Pasadena
St. Joseph Hospital brings a bevy of volunteers for the day shift.
Mary McKenzie, Director of Renal Services at St. Joseph Renal Transplant Center, steps up as assistant crew chief for the day. She wasn't expecting the call, but she proved to be a natural!
Crushed lentils are applied to the boats.
Our volunteers' attention to detail continues to be extraordinary. Here, the coconut on the bridge gets some touchup work.
In the two images above, the cutting tables continue to hum with activity.
A welcome visit from Disney's "VoluntEARS" helped us with staffing for the second shift. Here, the crew listens as crew cheif Skip Hawk welcomes them.
back to top
Saturday, December 20, 2003 - Phoenix Decorating Co. Rose Palace, Pasadena
The final day of decorating prior to Christmas.
Crew chief Skip Hawk orients the day's volunteers to the Rose Palace's amenities.
The intertwining vines come to life as redwood bark is carefully applied by Mari...
...Valerie...
...Brittany...
...Joan and her granddaughter...
...and Colleen.
Bark is broken into small pieces for application to the vines. Surprisingly, there are no reports of splinters!
A close look at the redwood bark.
A group focuses on cutting statis flowers into small flakes.
Cutting flowers is a family affair.
Statis cutting gets its close-up.
The husking table is still going strong for a fourth day.
CMS administrator and flota organizing committee member Esther-Marie Carmichael steps in as assistant crew chief for the day.
back to top
Saturday, December 13, 2003 - Phoenix Decorating Co. Rose Palace, Pasadena
The third full day of dry decorating includes a visit from HGTV.
Crew chief Skip Hawk of Phoenix Decorating Co. (center in green jacket) goes over decorating basics with volunteers.
Once again, the corn husk table is humming with activity.
OneLegacy CEO Tom Mone touches up the underside of the bridge.
Decorators from UCLA take a well-deserved break.
Kevin Monroe, the ATV-riding organizer of A Ride Across America, has been an anchor throughout all three days of decorating.
Craig and Kathleen Hostert, organizers of the April 17, 2004 Gift of Life Run/Walk, apply redwood bark to the vines.
Lisa Riehn of HGTV introduces herself to Lois Foxen, Gary Foxen and float rider Catalina Perez. Observing are Rivian Bell of JDI Communications and videographer Neil Van Harte.
Lisa Riehn interviews float riders Catalina Perez, Sharon Maupin and Patricia Elizarraraz for HGTV's pre-parade show, "Behind the Rose Parade."
