Two Oklahoma Floats To Be Featured In Rose Parade

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Oklahoma will be represented by two floats in the New Year's Day Rose Parade in California, along with a centennial all-star band. <br/><br/>Officials with Oklahoma's centennial

Saturday, December 30th 2006, 2:14 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Oklahoma will be represented by two floats in the New Year's Day Rose Parade in California, along with a centennial all-star band.

Officials with Oklahoma's centennial committee lobbied for years to launch the state's yearlong 100th birthday celebration at the parade, which has an international audience of 400 million viewers.

``I don't think anybody ... has had this kind of involvement in the history of this parade. And I've been involved with the Rose Parade for nearly 40 years,'' said Tim Estes, president of Fiesta Parade Floats, which built one of the two Oklahoma floats.

Gov. Brad Henry and his family will ride at the front of the 55-foot-long ``Oklahoma Rising'' entry, built by Estes' company. Behind Henry will be 10-foot, rose-covered letters spelling the state's name, and at the rear is a 23-foot-tall birthday cake. Between the ``O'' and the cake are oversized birthday presents, and inside one is a man strapped to a jet pack.

At a designated corner, the float will stop for a hydraulic lift to elevate the man to the top of the box. From there, he will jet around the parade route momentarily before returning to the earth just in front of the Henrys. There he will present an Oklahoma flag to the governor, Estes said.

``No float ever stops in that parade, but I worked out a year ago for this float to stop,'' Estes said, adding that the use of a jet pack also is unprecedented in the parade's 118-year history.

The second float, called ``Unique History'' and created by the Phoenix Decorating Co., is meant to represent the state's past. Pulled by eight Clydesdale horses, the float depicts cowboys and American Indians, an oil well, and a surrey similar to the one from the musical ``Oklahoma!''

Oklahoma Centennial Projects and Events Chairman Lee Allan Smith and Centennial Executive Director Blake Wade pulled out all the stops to get Oklahoma's two floats included in the parade as part of an effort to garner national exposure for the state's centennial.

``We let them know that we were honored to be coming here. We would not let them down,'' Smith said. ``When we let them know the kind of float we'd construct, they knew we'd make it the very best we could be.''

During a meeting of the parade committee at Wrigley Gardens in Pasadena, Calif., Wade also offered the All-Star Centennial Band for the parade. While he was at it, he asked whether Oklahoma could include two floats. The committee said they'd get back to them.

``They called back with excitement, saying it was voted in unanimously for two floats, and you can have your band, too,'' Wade said.

Smith added: ``We just have to believe that Oklahoma belonged in it. ``A state just doesn't have a 100th birthday every year.''