Goin’ Where It Ain’t

New Year’s Eve, 1965. Pasadena, California. The night before. Volunteers are working furiously to finish floats for what is unquestionably the most spectacular parade in the country – the Rose Parade, held each New Year’s Day. The parade is unique because all floats are made with fresh flowers, in every color of the rainbow. Individual flower stems are pushed into plastic water vials, then punched one by one into mesh wiring molded in the shape of whatever form the float portrays. Hundreds of thousands of flowers conceal gigantic trucks underneath, which slowly rumble up Colorado Avenue on New Year’s Day.

I’m one of the worker bees who make it all possible … a volunteer spending my college semester break working in a huge airport hanger where eight mega-floats are being built simultaneously, one flower at a time. I’m dating a coed who is the niece of the Grand Dame of New Year’s Day floats, so we get some special perks for our efforts. A private party with Lawrence Welk and his orchestra. And great seats at the Rose Bowl game, where the lowly UCLA Bruins are given virtually no chance against undefeated Big-10 powerhouse Michigan State. A classic battle of David vs. Goliath.

An annual tradition on New Year’s Eve is a tour by the Rose Parade Grand Marshall of facilities where floats are constructed. This year’s honoree is none other than Walt Disney. I’d love to meet him, but I have virtually no shot – hundreds of people are following Disney around as he goes from float to float, and he is protected by security from the hordes. Suddenly, I had a moment of “Plan B” inspiration – what if I avoided the crowds by going where Disney wasn’t, but where he likely would go? Have Walt come to me, rather than the other way around. Like a speedy halfback running in the opposite direction of his blockers, I dashed around to the other end of the hanger and stood alone in an empty aisle. My plan worked perfectly – Disney walked right up to me and stopped to ask me questions about the float I was standing next to, for the City of Los Angeles. Thus it was that I was able to introduce myself to Walt Disney and shake the hand that first drew Mickey Mouse.

Wayne Gretzky became the best hockey player in the history of the sport by doing something similar. When asked what made him special, Gretzky replied that unlike most players, he didn’t go where the hockey puck was – he went to the spot where the puck was going to be. Part of his greatness was the ability to anticipate events before they happened.

As we enter the new year, my goal for the chamber is not to follow the crowds, but to be at the spot where the puck is going to be. I want our chamber to be a recognized leader, not a follower. An innovator of ideas, not a copier.

Care to join us? Give me a call and I’ll recommend some ways you can increase your involvement in what we unashamedly believe is the best business organization in Montgomery County. All things are possible. Like that big Rose Bowl game on New Year’s Day, 1966 …David 14, Goliath 12.

R. Michael Owens
President/CEO

Editor’s Note: The president’s column is featured each month on Page 2 of our newsletter, Prospector. To download the current issue of the newsletter, click here. (We recommend you have DSL or similar high-speed internet access for the download due to the graphics.)