January 1, 2003

California trip coming up roses for Cherry queen

National Cherry Festival queen helps decorate Tournament of Roses float

By LISA PERKINS
Herald staff writer

      National Cherry Festival queen Ashley Prusick will have a front row seat today, as the 114th Tournament of Roses Parade makes its way through the streets of Pasadena.
      Prusick, along with National Cherry Festival president, Kay Relyea, received an invitation to be a part of the festivities as part of a new program to bring in festival groups from around the country. The program is sponsored by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association.
      Representing the National Cherry Festival, Prusick and Relyea had the opportunity to spend six hours gluing flowers to a "yellow submarine" float sponsored by Farmer's Insurance. More than 5,000 flowers will be applied to the float before it takes to the streets as part of the "Children's Dreams, Wishes and Imagination" theme.
      "Working on the float has been a great experience. There is so much work that goes into them. You just can't realize what it takes. The community really comes together. Just being a part of that was such a fun experience," Prusick said.
      With seating in the VIP section, Prusick and Relyea will be among the expected one million in attendance for the parade which will include 55 floats, 26 equestrian groups, 24 bands along with Grand Marshals Bill Cosby, Art Linkletter and Fred Rogers.
      Later in the day Prusick and Relyea will be in the stands at Rose Bowl Stadium as Washington State University takes on the University of Oklahoma in the 89th playing of the classic football bowl game.
      In addition to their front row seats, Prusick and Relyea were treated to a tour of the Tournament of Roses house donated to the Tournament of Roses Association by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr. They also visited Jay Leno's personal classic car garage before attending Monday night's taping of the Tonight Show.
      "We have been having such a wonderful time here. It's great to see how everything comes together on such a grand scale," Relyea said.
      The Tournament of Roses Parade will be aired at 11 a.m. today, on ABC, CBS, NBC and HGTV followed by the Rose Bowl at 5 p.m. on ABC.