Parade

With aviation as its theme this year, Burbank on Parade kicked off Saturday with a flyover by five helicopters followed by other fliers, marching bands and flight-themed floats. The rain that hit the L.A. area Friday had moved on, and the almost 100 parade entries traveled down Olive Avenue under sunny skies. One of the most popular entries came near the end of the parade, with about 25 vintage cars from the Road Kings club. Ashley Nesbit said the cars are always her favorite part, along with the Burbank/Burroughs Alumni Band.

A wet Christmas week made for happy times at the Glendale Galleria, which reported strong holiday sales as customers were driven indoors by the inclement weather. "The rain makes me sing, literally," said Shoshana Puccia, senior marketing director for the Galleria. "Whether it is super hot or raining and super cold, we benefit. " The indoor shopping center anchored by Macy's, Nordstrom, Target and JCPenney reported preliminary revenue growth of up between 2.5% and 6% over Christmas 2009 in every category, from fashion and footwear to electronics — its strongest holiday showing since 2004, Puccia said, despite lingering unemployment.

A surprised Lou Morreale was recognized by Burbank Mayor Jess Talamantes and the City Council on Tuesday for giving 30 years of service to Burbank on Parade. "But I'm from Glendale!" Morreale quipped when he came up to the podium in council chambers. "With his great wit he boosted the morale of everyone who works on the parade," said parade President Linda Barnes. Though the many years he has served on the parade committee have been great, it is time for different ideas, Morreale said.

On Saturday, April 14, my family went to my sister's house and walked to Verdugo Avenue to watch the annual Burbank on Parade. I mainly participate in viewing the parade in order to spend time with my family more than the excitement of the parade itself. While there is an appeal to a small-townish parade with civic leaders filling in for celebrities, BOP is an embarrassment to a city as wonderful as Burbank. With “The World of Aviation” as its theme, I was hard pressed to notice the theme what with all the police, fire, and emergency vehicles driving down Olive with their lights and sirens on. I don't intend to demean the organizers and volunteers that must put in countless hours organizing the event.

Marianne Love MONTROSE -- 'Tis not too late for a wee bit more St. Patrick's Day fun. The Montrose Shopping Park Assn. hosts its annual Children's Sidewalk Parade today in the 2200-2400 block of Honolulu Avenue. Parade participants begin to line up at 9 a.m. at the corner of Honolulu Avenue and Verdugo Road in front of Rocky Cola Cafe. The lucky lass or laddie with the "greenest" outfit will receive a $20 gift certificate. Beginning at 10 a.m. the children will parade along on the sidewalk to Las Palmas Avenue and then head back to Verdugo Road.

Janine Marnien It's being called a "Parade of Ponds," but it's really a self-guided tour through homes with water gardens in Southern California to benefit the Desi Geestman Foundation. The event organizer, California Waterscapes, chose to donate to the foundation because of its direct focus on children and families going through cancer treatment, spokeswoman Rhio Blair said. "It's unbelievable, the stuff they're doing," she said. "If a child is going through cancer treatment anywhere, they can get help from this foundation."

The Glendale Rose Float Association earned the 2008 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade Mayor?s Trophy for the ?Most outstanding city entry, national or international? for the city of Glendale?s float entry, ?Bon Voyage.? The colorful float was decorated by community members and depicts a bi-plane taking off from Glendale?s historic Grand Central Air Terminal. Glendale entered its first float in the parade back in 1911 and has had an entry in the parade for the past 94 consecutive parades, which makes it the second oldest continuous float entry in the parade, according to the Glendale Rose Float Association?

Tim Willert Jerry Barrone remembers a time when the Days of the Verdugos parade commanded the community's attention. It was a time when 30,000 people lined Brand Boulevard to marvel at more than 500 colorful parade entries, and cheer such Hollywood celebrities as Mamie Van Doren and Jayne Mansfield. Glendale's annual tribute to its Spanish heritage, which includes a carnival, was the only game in town. Only the Pasadena Tournament of Roses and the Hollywood Christmas parade packed more clout.

A planned parade for an Ottoman military marching band in Hollywood has been canceled amid uproar from Armenian groups who said the event was an affront to them because of the genocide that began in 1915. Ottoman Turks killed roughly 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the first modern-day genocide. Turkey has refused to acknowledge the massacre as genocide. The permit for the parade, scheduled for Oct. 3 on Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and La Brea avenues, was pulled Wednesday, an official at the Los Angeles Police Commission said.

With $25 and some luck, you could win two seats on Glendale's 100 t h Tournament of Roses Parade float. The city is selling raffle tickets to raise money to build the float and is asking for a minimum donation of $25 for the chance to wave to thousands of spectators standing along the Pasadena parade route on New Year's Day. With little money to pay for floats in recent years, city officials have relied on residents and corporate...

As Glendale prepares to design its 100th float for the annual Tournament of Roses Parade, it could, for the first time, feature pyrotechnics or water features. But advanced design elements come at higher cost, and after years of scrimping on float costs due to tight city budgets, the City Council approved spending $155,000 on what Community Services & Parks Director Jess Duran called a “historic monument.” “It would be great to win another award and it would be very fitting to win an award on our 100th year,” Duran said at a City Hall meeting this week.

Cool and breezy conditions are expected to give way to another rainstorm later this week, but forecasters say it should be mostly clear and brisk by New Year's Day and the all-important Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. Gusty northwest winds were expected for some areas through Thursday morning with most of the region experiencing fair weather Thursday and Friday, said experts with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Many areas will experience 15- to 25-mph winds, they said, and the Antelope Valley and the mountains should see west to northwest winds of up to 45 mph. A winter weather advisory was issued for Thursday until 10 a.m., with blistery snow showers expected on north facing mountain slopes in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Judie Estep, who was born and raised in Glendale, has a long history with the city's Tournament of Roses float. It all began when she was a little girl. “My dad was the adult leader of the high school group at North Glendale United Methodist Church. I was 10 or 11 at the time, but I went along.” Each year, the group decorated Glendale's float as a fundraiser. “I was too little to put flowers on, but I cut blossoms off the stems.” The float designer during this time (the 1960s and early '70s)

Instead of inviting reality TV star Kim Kardashian to ride atop Glendale's Tournament of Roses Parade float, four local high school students will get the honor. While the students are being reviewed by the parade organizers this week, City Council members said Tuesday night that they want to set guidelines for who can ride the float in the future. In the past, riders have included council members, float fundraisers and Miss Asia USA. “I think what we should do is perhaps set forth some loose guidelines, some preferences,” said Councilman Ara Najarian, who broached the idea of inviting Kardashian to ride the float last week.

Glendale Councilman Ara Najarian has pulled his request to invite reality television star Kim Kardashian to ride atop the city's Rose Parade float given that she's already booked for a New Year's Eve event in Las Vegas. The proposal was to be discussed by the full City Council Tuesday night after Najarian was able to get it onto the agenda last week , contending Kardashian's appearance would be a public relations boon for Glendale. “I didn't want to put her in a position to turn down the city of Glendale due to a conflict,” Najarian said Monday.

Going where no man has gone before -- it could be the theme for this year's Montrose Christmas Parade, with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars rover team and original “Star Trek” actor Walter Koenig serving as co-grand marshals. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) and other dignitaries and officials will also be taking part in the parade along Honolulu Avenue, which starts at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The parade starts at Honolulu Avenue at Rosemont Avenue, and then runs east to Verdugo Road.

The Alex Theatre, Americana at Brand and Glendale Adventist Medical Center are set to take center stage on Glendale's float for the 2013 Tournament of Roses Parade after the Glendale City Council on Tuesday approved the final design. City officials took a more proactive role in all aspects of the float after the circus elephant design for 2012 led to backlash from animal advocates, particularly from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which protested what the group considered to be a symbol of animal cruelty.

After the controversy surrounding Glendale's circus elephant float for the last Tournament of Roses Parade, city commissioners are recommending a design for the next go around that focuses more on industry.  Earlier this month, the proposed 2013 design was unanimously endorsed by the Parks, Recreation & Community Services Commission, setting the stage for review by the City Council, which put the process of picking a float on a shorter leash...