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Cal Poly constructing 71st Rose Parade float

Posted at 6:56 PM, Oct 13, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-13 22:25:57-04

Only 80 days until January 1 which means students are busy prepping for the 2019 Rose Parade in Pasadena.

The Cal Poly Rose Float Team held its final student workday lab for the college’s 2019 Rose float entry.

Sara Novell, Cal Poly Rose Float Team President, says growing up she would always watch California Rose Parades with her family. When she came to Cal Poly she checked out the team with her friends and instantly felt at home.

She’s now been a part of the team for five years and says the floats have evolved since she first joined.

“I think we just push the boundaries more and that’s why we’re in the parade ultimately to create innovation, to push the envelope and to just try our best and just show off, this is what Cal Poly is,” Novell said.

There are 50 people total on the leadership team, more volunteers chip in every year.

According to the college, next Saturday, the team will load the float chassis and float components on a tractor-trailer for transport to Cal Poly Pomona, where the two chassis sections will be bolted together to form the 50-foot-long base, and the float ultimately will take shape. “Far Out Frequencies” is the Cal Poly universities’ 71st entry in the Pasadena classic — a tradition that began in 1949 — and celebrates the 130th Tournament of Roses Parade theme, “The Melody of Life,” and music as a universal language. On the float, a pair of astronauts land on a distant alien planet. Unable to communicate through language, they use musical instruments to share their message of goodwill with the aliens they encounter, leading to out-of-this-world fun and some unexpected good times.