Cruisingfool
12-29-2009, 03:56 PM
Link (http://www.ocregister.com/news/float-226168-parade-mexico.html)
Rose parade float to celebrate Mexico's bicentennial
By Cindy Carcamo
The Orange County Register (CA), December 29, 2009
Mexican officials plan to kick off a year's worth of bicentennial events, commemorating their independence with a float at the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade.
'It's about putting Mexico in an international forum... like the Rose Parade,' said Juan Marcos Gutierrez, Consul General of Mexico in Los Angeles. 'The message is pretty much that today we are starting the celebrations throughout the year.'
The float – featuring floral replicas of the Aztec calendar, Mexico City's Angel of Independence, skirted by 36 dancing to traditional Mexican music – is the first time in recent years that the nation has featured a float in the parade.
The last time the Mexican government sponsored a float in the parade was 1968, the same year the nation hosted the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
This coming year, the country celebrates 100 years since the Mexican revolution and 200 years of independence from Spain.
Wells Fargo and Televisa are sponsoring the majority of the float's cost.
Mexico's General Consulate officials are helping coordinate some of the volunteers to help decorate the float that will travel down Colorado Boulevard on New Year's Day.
Many who helped create the float are Mexican immigrants or of Mexican descent – from the builders to well known float designer Raul Rodriguez, Gutierrez said.
The 24-foot-high and 55-foot-long float is already sparking ill will among some in the anti-illegal immigration crowd.
Message boards on Web sites and e-mails are aflutter with criticism for the float, which is to be decorated by hundreds of volunteers, including Mexican immigrants and their families and 31 Girl Scout troops from Orange County.
Barbara Coe, leader of Huntington Beach-based California Coalition for Immigration Reform, said she's attended the parade in years past.
'I'm not going to go this year. I can tell you that,' Coe said. 'There are others who are not really happy about it either. I've had a few e-mails and some calls...'
Mostly, Coe said, she fears that the high tensions associated with the escalating illegal immigration debate may spill over onto the parade and create problems.
Tim Estes, whose company Fiesta Parade Floats was commissioned to build the float, said the Mexico float should not become a political flashpoint.
'They shouldn't try to use the purpose of the parade or any parade or festival to make a commotion out of anything,' Estes said. 'The Rose Parade is such a unique experience. It's about people taking the moment to pause and stop thinking about what's happening in their life – the good or the bad – and focus on the parade...Why can't people just enjoy the moment?'
Rose parade float to celebrate Mexico's bicentennial
By Cindy Carcamo
The Orange County Register (CA), December 29, 2009
Mexican officials plan to kick off a year's worth of bicentennial events, commemorating their independence with a float at the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade.
'It's about putting Mexico in an international forum... like the Rose Parade,' said Juan Marcos Gutierrez, Consul General of Mexico in Los Angeles. 'The message is pretty much that today we are starting the celebrations throughout the year.'
The float – featuring floral replicas of the Aztec calendar, Mexico City's Angel of Independence, skirted by 36 dancing to traditional Mexican music – is the first time in recent years that the nation has featured a float in the parade.
The last time the Mexican government sponsored a float in the parade was 1968, the same year the nation hosted the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
This coming year, the country celebrates 100 years since the Mexican revolution and 200 years of independence from Spain.
Wells Fargo and Televisa are sponsoring the majority of the float's cost.
Mexico's General Consulate officials are helping coordinate some of the volunteers to help decorate the float that will travel down Colorado Boulevard on New Year's Day.
Many who helped create the float are Mexican immigrants or of Mexican descent – from the builders to well known float designer Raul Rodriguez, Gutierrez said.
The 24-foot-high and 55-foot-long float is already sparking ill will among some in the anti-illegal immigration crowd.
Message boards on Web sites and e-mails are aflutter with criticism for the float, which is to be decorated by hundreds of volunteers, including Mexican immigrants and their families and 31 Girl Scout troops from Orange County.
Barbara Coe, leader of Huntington Beach-based California Coalition for Immigration Reform, said she's attended the parade in years past.
'I'm not going to go this year. I can tell you that,' Coe said. 'There are others who are not really happy about it either. I've had a few e-mails and some calls...'
Mostly, Coe said, she fears that the high tensions associated with the escalating illegal immigration debate may spill over onto the parade and create problems.
Tim Estes, whose company Fiesta Parade Floats was commissioned to build the float, said the Mexico float should not become a political flashpoint.
'They shouldn't try to use the purpose of the parade or any parade or festival to make a commotion out of anything,' Estes said. 'The Rose Parade is such a unique experience. It's about people taking the moment to pause and stop thinking about what's happening in their life – the good or the bad – and focus on the parade...Why can't people just enjoy the moment?'