Contact:
Melitta J. Cutright
Brett Rush
630-571-5466, ext. 366

For Immediate Release

Flower Power: Lions Float Getting Ready To Launch In 118th Rose Parade

OAK BROOK, IL (USA) December 7, 2006—A 30-foot-long red-tipped white cane parade float symbolic of Lions Clubs’ efforts on behalf of the visually impaired will be showcased for an audience of millions around the world during the 118th Rose Parade.

The float, dubbed “Sight First,” is the 74th entry in the parade, placing it in the final third of the procession. Stepping off at. 8 a.m. (PST) Jan. 1 in downtown Pasadena, California, the parade will be televised in 155 territories around the world on nine networks: ABC; NBC; HGTV; Tribune; Univision; Telemundo; Travel Channel; Discovery HD Theater; and Sky Link TV.

This is the 21st year Lions Clubs International has sponsored a float. LCI typically pays for half of the $60,000 cost of the float, while Lions Float, Inc.—a nonprofit corporation composed of members primarily from district 4-L—covers the remaining cost.

A rendering of the Lions Sight First Float bears images symbolic of the fight against blindness.

Formed in 1994, Lions Float has directly handled the preparation and funding of the Lions float in the Rose Parade. Design, fundraising and coordinating the volunteer effort of decorating the float is a year-long project, with 50 to 60 volunteers helping with final decorations every day between Christmas and Jan. 1.

Funds are raised through raffles, drawings, establishing fellowships and the sale of commemorative Rose Parade Lions Float apparel and lapel pins.

The float, which also features a yellow ribbon containing symbols of Lions’ fight against blindness, will be decorated in everlasting and carnation petals, yellow straw flower, crushed walnut shells and an amalgam of various seeds. Rose Parade rules stipulate that the entire surface of the float be covered in natural floral material.

A look at the float before the flowers are added.

Concept design and construction of the float’s infrastructure are coordinated by Phoenix Decorating Company, a business that specializes in building floats.

Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization with 1.3 million members in 45,000 clubs in 200 countries and geographical areas around the world. Since 1917, Lions clubs have aided the blind and visually impaired and made a strong commitment to community service and serving youth throughout the world.