Sierra Madre unveils 2014 Rose Parade float design

SIERRA MADRE -- This fish is no exaggeration.
The Sierra Madre entry in the 2014 Rose Parade will be a 42-foot-long fish, hooked on a line and splashing above its captors in a small skiff.
The float is called "Catching the Big One," and was approved by the Tournament of Roses last week for next year's Rose Parade, following the theme "Dreams Come True. "
"We're extremely excited and we're already working on how we're going to make it work," said Bob Young, president of the Sierra Madre Rose Float Association.
The association is an independent builder that relies on donations and volunteers, so its floats are always smaller in scale than some of the more grandiose entries from sponsors. Sierra Madre, like La Canada Flintridge, is among a handful of cities still entering self-built floats.
"Catching the Big One" is roughly the same length as previous Sierra Madre floats, but at 25-feet tall the fish will have to articulate down to fit under the Foothill (210) Freeway bridge on Sierra Madre Boulevard at parade's end.
Association volunteers work on weekends, and are already putting together the float structure and mechanisms, Young said.
It will be decorated with iris, carnations, roses and several types of citrus.
The fish design is by up-and-coming float designer Charles Meier, who founded Paradiso Parade Floats last year and has worked with
Sierra Madre for the past six years. Young didn't expect to have Meier's services this year, so Sierra Madre is happy to have the award-winning designer on board again.
"We were so successful and our working relation is so positive, then why not use the talent?" Young said.
The 2013 Sierra Madre float, a kite called "The Sky's the Limit," won the Isabella Coleman trophy for best use of color and color harmony.