For about 25 years, Carvel Gay towed Glendale’s rose floats from Pasadena to a spot in front of the Alex Theatre on Brand Boulevard.
“Towing the float back to Glendale was quite an experience. Every year I said I could have written a book on getting the float back,’’ he told me in a 2010 interview in conjunction with a documentary on the city’s Tournament of Roses floats.
“We developed a plan each year between the Department of Parks and Recreation and myself. We always brought it back late afternoon or early evening.’’ Their route was usually on Orange Grove Boulevard to Colorado Boulevard and then over several hills to Glendale. “It took three hours or so. I learned long ago not to try to do it quickly. Safety and getting it back in one piece is the most important thing.”
“Staff from Parks and Recreation provided employees to follow us and were also on either side, plus I had staff also.” Paul Salazar, a longtime employee at Gay’s Automotive and Towing, went with him for 24 years. “We would do the driving and the observing, plus a driver would also be in the float.”